๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Many Mexicans can't afford to buy basic food...
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท Meat is becoming a luxury in Brazil...
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช And some Venezuelans can't even pay to bury their dead.

The cost-of-living crisis is wreaking havoc in countries worldwide.

Hereโ€™s how three nations in the Americas are coping. ๐Ÿงต
๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ In Mexico, the #UkraineCrisis has pushed the price of corn to a nine-year high.

Vegetable oil prices are also up by 23% over the last year. Inflation is at a 21-year high of nearly 8%.

๐ŸŒฎ Families are cutting back on staples like tacos and empanadas.

tmsnrt.rs/3zhLk62 "The situation is bad. Every week, little by little, th
๐Ÿฆ Hector Castro has owned a small ice cream stall in Mexico City for 27 years.

But this year, heโ€™s struggling to stay afloat.

Despite working for more than 12 hours a day, Hector said he barely makes enough money to cover food, rent and transport from his home in Atlacomulco. "We are currently living day-to-day, eating nothing but
๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ช Venezuela finally escaped years of hyperinflation at the start of 2022.

โญ•๏ธ In 2018, inflation reached 65,000%

๐Ÿ“ˆ But while it cooled to its lowest level in a decade, consumer prices still rose more than 170% in the 12 months to June.
tmsnrt.rs/3cVFVdx
๐Ÿชก Retired schoolteacher Maria Teresa Clemente began taking up side jobs, like sewing, to pay the bills.

๐Ÿš• She says in Caracas, people are abandoning their cars because they cannot afford to run them.

๐Ÿ—ฃ "We pay for services, but they don't work. Power goes out often." "Most Venezuelans can't afford a funeral to bury a fami
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ท In Brazil, consumer prices are up by 12% in a year.

โ˜”๏ธ Lower rainfall has also reduced crop yields and hydropower generation, raising costs even further.

๐Ÿ“‰ Meanwhile, average incomes nationwide have dropped 7.2% since 2021. tmsnrt.rs/3OP95be
๐Ÿ’ธ Small business owner and single mother Andreia Dias Alvares earns less than 1,000 reais ($185) per month.

โš ๏ธ That's below the national minimum wage.

She said her only option was to cut back on household spending, which meant smaller meals for herself and her two teenagers. "Prices have practically doubled. For my family, meat n
๐Ÿ“ˆ People around the world are seeing food and energy prices spike due to the Ukraine war and fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

โญ•๏ธ Hereโ€™s what the situation looks like in three European countries:
twitter.com/i/events/15515โ€ฆ
๐Ÿšจ Itโ€™s not just those in Europe and the Americas struggling.

๐ŸŒŽ The bite of the crisis is being felt by families across the globe:

twitter.com/i/events/15489โ€ฆ
๐Ÿ—ฃ @TRF_Stories spoke to people living in 18 nations around the world in an attempt to gauge the human impact of the cost-of-living crisis.

Hereโ€™s what they had to say ๐Ÿ‘‡

tmsnrt.rs/3J6wRyw

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More from @TRF_Stories

Jul 18
๐Ÿšจ From London to Nairobi to New Delhi, nations everywhere have been hit by rising food and energy costs.

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Triggered by the #UkraineCrisis and COVID-19, the cost of living crisis is devastating ordinary people.

Here's how it's reaching breaking point in 6 countries. ๐Ÿงต A person seated on a grey couch showing an empty wallet.A customer speaks with a fish seller at Mile 12 Internationa
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UK

๐Ÿ“ˆ Inflation is running at the highest rate for 40 years.

๐Ÿ’ธ Debt is spiralling fast with research showing there's now a 38% increase in households saying they were a heavy financial burden in 2021. tmsnrt.rs/3PfjM8b Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi speaks w
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง 62-year-old Lenny Poynton lost his job as a removal man in early 2021.

๐ŸŒฝ He now has to skip meals to stretch his benefit income of about ยฃ250 per month.

๐Ÿ“ˆ Rising bills weigh heavily on his mind and he just about survives with support from friends and family. โ€œIโ€™m getting on a bit.  "It's an uphill struggle to
Read 14 tweets
Jun 27
๐Ÿšจ The latest #crypto crash has roiled markets and spooked many investors.

But from Ukraine to Gaza to Afghanistan, people facing war or crisis say #cryptocurrencies are still a vital lifeline.

Here's how people in 3 countries have turned to digital coins for survival. ๐Ÿงต
๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ When Russia invaded #Ukraine, many relied on #bitcoin to bypass sanctions.

โญ•๏ธ Crypto was used to buy supplies for those in warzones.

๐Ÿ’ฐ The government's fund of about $100 million in crypto has been depleted by the crash, but charities are still seeing generous donations. โ€œThe bank system didn't work in the early days of the inva
๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ธ Crypto is also thriving in #Gaza, where Palestinians are locked out of many payment apps.

They often have to pay high fees to banks and middlemen to send and receive money.

โญ•๏ธ Brokers charge only a 1%-2% fee to send or receive crypto and convert it into local currency. "It's really difficult to get payments in Gaza. We have
Read 8 tweets
Jun 21
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง The UK is pressing on with a plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda - even after a European court halted the first flight.

๐Ÿšจ Campaigners are alarmed - but it's not the first nation to send people overseas.

Here's how others have adopted offshoring policies. ๐Ÿงต A view of The Hope Hostel accommodation where migrants from Members of the staff board a plane reported by British mediaMigrants who launched from the coast of northern France cros
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia

โญ•๏ธ Introduced in 2001, the countryโ€™s offshoring asylum programme specifically targets migrants arriving in Australian waters by boat.

๐ŸŒ They have been transferred to detention centres in Papua New Guinea's Manus Island and the South Pacific island nation of Nauru. The Australian coat-of-arms is displayed in the entrance of
๐Ÿ—“ The "Pacific Solution" policy was dismantled in 2008, but it was revived in 2012 and became more restrictive in 2013.

๐Ÿ‘‰ Since 2012, more than 4,000 asylum seekers, including children, have been sent to Manus and Nauru for processing. A refugee advocate holds a placard as she participates in a
Read 11 tweets
Jun 20
๐Ÿ’ธBlack women in the U.S, especially in the South, have historically faced huge hurdles when it comes to jobs and building wealth.

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธBut in Georgia, a revolutionary scheme will give free monthly cash to lift poor women out of poverty.

How could guaranteed income change lives?๐Ÿงต
๐Ÿ’ฐAcross the U.S, Black women earn about 60 cents for every $1 paid to white, non-Hispanic men.

โญ•๏ธ In Georgia, they're roughly twice as likely to live in poverty as white women.

๐ŸšจThat's why non-profits @GiveDirectly and @theGROfund are leading a new guaranteed income project.
๐Ÿ’ต The โ€œIn Her Handsโ€ experiment will give an average of $850 a month to around 650 Black women on low incomes.

๐Ÿ—“ They'll receive the funds for two years, no strings attached.

๐Ÿ“ˆ Some taking part said it could make the difference in being able to put food on the table.
Read 10 tweets
May 31
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgium has become the first country in Europe to decriminalise sex work.

โญ•๏ธ The new policy means sex workers will have more legal protections while supporters say it fights stigma.

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บ Could other EU nations soon follow? Hereโ€™s what you need to know. ๐Ÿงต A protester holds a placard as Dutch sex workers demonstrate
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Before now, sex work wasn't prohibited in Belgium.

But to avoid pimping and exploitation, those who facilitated it - like hotel owners or accountants - could be prosecuted.

Activists say the lack of legal clarity led to abuse, like long hours and the risk of violence. "With the owners of the spa or nightclub, they say you
โญ•๏ธ Campaigners also say COVID-19 was the catalyst for parliament's March vote to remove sex work from the penal code.

โš ๏ธ Lockdowns left sex workers with no income.

๐Ÿ’ต Given their uncertain legal status they also received no unemployment benefits.
tmsnrt.rs/3Gy5v2J "All of a sudden people were confronted with images of
Read 11 tweets
May 12
๐Ÿ› Hot tubs
๐Ÿผ Free babysitting
๐Ÿ’ต Cold hard cash

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Across the U.S., smaller cities are trying to lure remote workers away from big metropolitan areas with new, tempting perks.

๐Ÿš Ready to pack a moving van? Here are 4 places you could consider calling home. ๐Ÿงต
1๏ธโƒฃ Tulsa, Oklahoma

๐Ÿ’ฐ The city will give you a $10,000 grant to relocate alongside a yearโ€™s free membership at a co-working space - and the promise of a welcoming community.

๐Ÿ“ˆ More than 1,500 people have already taken up the offer. tmsnrt.rs/39OlJbH
2๏ธโƒฃ Johnson City, Tennessee

๐Ÿ” Fancy an escape to the mountains instead?

๐Ÿ’ฐ Johnson City will offer up to $5000 to help with moving expenses.

โšก๏ธ You can also get a $1000 voucher towards a brand new hot tub, and $500 for a bicycle to make the most of the great outdoors.
Read 9 tweets

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