bread-and-butter issue
Basic livelihood matter
A bread-and-butter issue is a practical concern affecting people's basic livelihood and daily existence—jobs, wages, housing, healthcare.
Politicians focus on bread-and-butter issues because they resonate with voters more than abstract policy debates: She won by sticking to bread-and-butter issues like the cost of groceries.
The phrase evokes bread and butter as humble staples of survival.
Paid occupation status
- job securityProtected employment status
- wagesPayment for work
- incomeRegular monetary receipts
- salaryFixed periodic employment payment
healthcare · housing costs · cost of living · pension · retirement · benefits · childcare costs · education costs
Food bought at stores
- rentPayment for temporary use
- utilitiesEssential infrastructure services
- commuteRegular work travel
- fuel pricesCost of petroleum products
bills · food prices · prescription costs · insurance · mortgage · household expenses · transportation · budgeting
Sustained price level increase
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
- taxationCompulsory government revenue collection
- economySystem of trade and production
- recessionProlonged economic decline
fiscal policy · budget · trade · deficit · consumer prices · interest rates · economic growth · purchasing power
Manual laborers collectively
- middle classIntermediate socioeconomic group
- swing votersUncommitted potential voters
- populistAdvocate for ordinary citizens
- grassrootsCommon people as political base
employment
Paid occupation status
- job securityProtected employment status
- wagesPayment for work
- incomeRegular monetary receipts
salary · healthcare · housing costs · cost of living · pension · retirement · benefits · childcare costs · education costs · paycheck
groceries
Food bought at stores
bills · fuel prices · food prices · prescription costs · insurance · mortgage · household expenses · transportation · budgeting · making ends meet
inflation
Sustained price level increase
- unemploymentBeing without paid work
- taxationCompulsory government revenue collection
- economySystem of trade and production
recession · fiscal policy · budget · trade · deficit · consumer prices · interest rates · economic growth · purchasing power · GDP
working class
Manual laborers collectively
- middle classIntermediate socioeconomic group
- swing votersUncommitted potential voters
- populistAdvocate for ordinary citizens
bread-and-butter issueacademic debate
Formal intellectual argument
academic question · armchair philosophy · navel-gazing · wedge issue · identity politics
bread-and-butter issuefirst-world problem
Trivial woe of prosperity
special interest · insider baseball · pet project · distraction
bread, butter, issue, breads, breaded, breading, breadcrumb, butters, buttered