Three economic spirals: Rent, Obamacare, and GLP-1s

Fall has arrived, and with it comes a fresh batch of uncozy economic data. On this episode of The Indicator from Planet Money, the hosts walk through three developments that share an unsettling common thread: each involves a system that works well for some people but is quietly breaking for others, with potential cascading consequences.

One in five middle-income renters can't pay on time

The first indicator is 21.6% — the share of middle-income renters who reported having trouble paying rent at some point in 2025, according to the Urban Institute. That number is significantly up from the year before. Middle-income here means households earning three to five times the federal poverty level: roughly $31,000 to $63,000 for a single adult, or $53,000 to $107,000 for a family of three.

These are not low-income renters in the traditional sense. These are people with steady salaries who are still falling behind on housing. The Urban Institute survey asked about utility bills too, and found that nearly 21% of these same middle-income renters couldn't pay their full gas, electric, or oil bill at some point during the year. The hosts note the interconnectedness — missed rent, unpaid utilities, then groceries and healthcare — and the existential dread that comes with it.

The Obamacare purge and the death spiral risk