Thanksgiving in America has always been a time for families to gather, reflect, and—at least briefly—set aside their worries. But in 2025, as families across Ohio and beyond join hands around the table, the sense of gratitude is tinged with anxiety. The reason? An economic squeeze that’s making it harder than ever for working people to keep up, and a safety net that’s fraying just when it’s needed most.
According to a recent commentary published on November 26, 2025, Ohio families are feeling the pinch from all sides. Inflation is driving up the cost of groceries, rent hikes are outpacing paychecks, and electric bills have soared. The state now ranks 18th in the nation for financial hardship—a sobering statistic for a region long known for its blue-collar resilience. Wages for Ohio’s most common occupations are down, making it tough for many to get ahead, let alone save for the future.
But it’s not just Ohio. Across the country, the economic picture is darkening. Company layoffs surged to a two-decade high in October 2025, signaling a slowdown in the labor market that has left many Americans feeling vulnerable. As reported by the same commentary, “People are noticeably on edge, worried, broke. Sticker shock at the grocery store has blown a gaping hole in monthly budgets.” For countless families, it’s a daily struggle to stretch every dollar.
One of the most pressing concerns is the impact of federal policy decisions. Tariffs introduced by former President Donald Trump have driven up prices for both consumers and businesses in Ohio, slowing commerce and hitting agriculture especially hard. Agriculture, the state’s largest industry, has been “bankrupted by the trade war Trump started,” according to the commentary. The much-promised economic boom has failed to materialize for family farms, many of which are now teetering on the edge of collapse.
Meanwhile, cuts to social safety net programs have deepened the crisis for those least able to weather it. Funding for food stamps (SNAP) and Medicaid has been slashed by hundreds of billions of dollars to offset the cost of tax cuts for the wealthy. The result? “Working class Trump supporters, who augment their meager take-home pay with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy groceries, got a rude awakening recently when their hero callously let SNAP benefits lapse for the first time in the program’s history.”
This lapse in SNAP benefits came during the longest government shutdown on record, causing delays in food aid for over half a million Ohioans. As the commentary recounts, “Food aid for the poorest Ohioans was delayed in the longest government shutdown on the books while the Republican-controlled U.S. House left town, the Republican-controlled Senate killed time, and the Republican president preoccupied himself with destroying the East Wing of the White House to build a glitzy ballroom as families went hungry.” The human cost of political gridlock has never been clearer.
The threat to health coverage is another looming worry. Cost-saving subsidies for Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans are at risk of expiring at the end of December 2025, putting affordable health insurance out of reach for many Ohioans. “More than half a million Ohioans feared being priced out of affordable health insurance if cost-saving subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans were not extended,” the commentary notes. Yet, with the political will to extend these subsidies in short supply, the future looks uncertain for those who depend on them.
It’s not just economic pressures that have Ohioans and other Americans on edge. The deployment of Ohio National Guard troops to Washington D.C. in August 2025, with their stay extended until the end of February 2026 by Governor Mike DeWine, has added to the sense of instability. The commentary describes the deployment as being on “nebulous grounds,” with the troops’ duties including landscaping and trash removal—a far cry from their usual mission. The unusual extension has raised eyebrows and fueled speculation about the motivations behind it.
Against this backdrop, food banks and pantries are stepping up to fill the gaps left by government inaction. In Charlottesville, Virginia, for example, organizations like the Loaves and Fishes Pantry are bracing for their busiest time of year. “November and December are always our busiest months because we have two really food centric holidays,” said Jane Colony-Mills, executive director of Loaves and Fishes Pantry, in an interview with WVIR. But this year, the challenge is even greater. SNAP benefit delays in November 2025 have pushed demand up by 11% compared to last year.
The numbers are staggering. Loaves and Fishes serves 3,100 households—about 12,000 people—every month. The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, which supplies food to pantries like Loaves and Fishes, has reported a one-third decrease in USDA food supplies for the current quarter. “Our distribution is up while some of our donations are down. Our partner pick-up is down. Our USDA is down about a third year over year for this quarter,” said Les Sinclair of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. With fewer resources and more mouths to feed, food banks are relying heavily on community donations to bridge the gap.
Thankfully, the public has responded. “The response has been fantastic. Our community recognized that with the government shutdown and with the changes to SNAP and with the holidays coming, folks are going to need food,” Sinclair told WVIR. Donations have been crucial for purchasing essentials like milk, eggs, meat, and produce. As Colony-Mills put it, “We’re so grateful for that because the dollars help us make those important purchases. Make sure we can buy milk and eggs and meat and produce.”
Still, the situation remains precarious. As the holidays approach, the question on many minds is how long donations and community goodwill can make up for the shortfall in government support. The risk is not just hunger, but a deeper erosion of the social contract that has long defined American life. The commentary from Ohio captures this sense of unease: “This imperfect union, founded on the intrinsic worth of every human being and rooted in ideals from self-determination to equal protection under the law is hanging by a thread in 2025.”
Yet, amid the hardship, there are glimmers of hope. Americans are pushing back—protesting, litigating, and holding power to account. They’re standing up for the values that generations before them fought to secure. And, as one Ohioan put it in a Thanksgiving prayer, many are hoping for “the Blessings of Liberty” to be preserved for future generations.
As families gather this Thanksgiving, the challenges are undeniable. But so too is the determination to help one another—and to keep fighting for a country where everyone has a fair shot at a better life.
