How low-income people pay the steepest price when inflation hits

The soaring costs of basic necessities such as food and housing are disproportionately hitting people with lower incomes. Here, a house is available for rent in Los Angeles on March 15. (Mario Tama / Getty Images)

Four-dollar gasoline and five-dollar hamburger are putting a squeeze on Tanya Byron's pocketbook. But it's the rent that really stings.

"It's pretty depressing," says the Jacksonville, Fla., travel agent, sitting in the tiny dining room that doubles as her home office. "I make $42,000 a year, and I can barely afford a one-bedroom apartment."