I’ve spent years studying economic data. These Americans taught me what ‘affordability’ really means | CNN Business

A Reporter’s Notebook from four cities, 5,000 miles, three dozen interviews and the people I can’t stop thinking about. We were a few minutes into a drive when Jolene Simecek said something that left me speechless. She was steering me through Parma, Ohio, narrating the new subdivisions as they slid past — block after block of brand-new homes she’s made her peace with never owning. Around here, she said, they don’t last on the market long enough to put in an offer. Her parents never built the kind of wealth you hand down. So you rent, and you work harder — 16-hour days, never home — and the math still won’t move. Not for her, not for most people her age. “What kind of pressure does that put on you?” I asked. STREAMING NOW: What happens when hard work is no longer enough? Priced Out in America follows families trapped in the affordability crisis, revealing structural forces that have profoundly and permanently reshaped the U.S. economy. She didn’t hesitate. “It’s not fun. I wanted a yard for my kid. Just the normal American dream — a house, a picket fence, a yard. And it just seems like that’s more and more out of touch. Not reality.” I sat in silence.