Consumers struggle to cope with rising fast food prices

The recent rise in fast-food costs has made customers across the country uneasy as they look for food away from home.

According to North Carolina State University economist Dr. Michael Walden, the increase is due to employee dropouts inside the industry, making employers raise employee benefits for retention.

“Importantly, for the restaurant industry, it’s been labor cost. Wages, hourly earnings, have gone up much faster in the restaurant business than inflation over the last three years,” Walden said. “The impact there is obviously that it’s motivating many households to say, ‘You know what, we maybe like to eat out once a week. We can’t do that. We’re gonna have to cut back to once every other week,’”

A lack of employees has made fast-food restaurants reconsider their labor policies.

“It's always an issue for any kind of business [to maintain profit margins whilst addressing consumer affordability], not just in the restaurant business, where that business, for whatever reason, sees its cost going up. And in order to meet their expenses, they need to provide the right of return that’s necessary to keep investors there, they’re gonna have to raise prices. They’re going to disappoint customers,” Walden explained.

The price of a Big Mac from McDonalds in 2024 is $5.31 (compared to $5.81 in 2021). Moreover, it represents a dollar increase from the 2012 price of $4.19.

Although it may seem minimal, families are opting to eating at home to manage food costs.

“We [spent] $25, when before with just $14, we used to eat two or three, and right now we’re just two,” Ana García, a customer at McDonalds, said.

Andrés I. Jové Rodríguez is a senior from the University of Puerto Rico, Arecibo. He's currently majoring in Tele-Radio Communications with emphasis on news, production & directing. He's currently works for the Puerto Rican newspaper company, El Vocero, as a political reporter.