# Patch Notes #009: Cost of Living / Inequality Source Appendix

Version: v0.1 public source appendix
Date: 2026-07-03
Status: Baseline source list, not final evidence review.

## Official Data

- BLS Consumer Price Index: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/
- BLS Real Earnings: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/realer.toc.htm
- BEA Personal Income and Outlays: https://www.bea.gov/data/income-saving/personal-income
- Federal Reserve, Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking: https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/shed.htm
- Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Household Debt and Credit Report: https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc
- Census Income and Poverty: https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty.html
- Census Supplemental Poverty Measure: https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/supplemental-poverty-measure.html
- CBO Distribution of Household Income: https://www.cbo.gov/topics/income-distribution

## Cost Driver Sources

- Harvard JCHS, State of the Nation's Housing: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/state-nations-housing
- KFF, Health Costs: https://www.kff.org/health-costs/
- Child Care Aware, Price of Care: https://www.childcareaware.org/thechildcarestandstill/
- USDA Economic Research Service, Food Price Outlook: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-price-outlook/
- EIA, energy prices: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/energy-and-the-environment/prices-and-factors-affecting-prices.php

## Source Rules For This Issue

- Separate inflation rate from price level.
- Separate national averages from household archetypes and regional budgets.
- Use CPI/BEA/Fed/Census/CBO for macro and household baseline.
- Use topic-specific sources for housing, healthcare, childcare, food, and energy.
- Treat inequality, poverty, middle-class squeeze, and affordability as related but distinct.