A working mother in Puerto Rico identified as Val Roque published a frustrated Facebook post describing how hard it has become for working, middle- and lower-class people on the island to make ends meet. Roque said she works nearly from sunup to sundown, gets home only to sleep, and supports a daughter on a $1,900 monthly salary.
Her listed expenses include $200 for electricity, even though she is barely home, and $250 in tolls, which she said are charged daily to people moving along the main roads. She shared a photo showing that the express lane, or DTL, in San Juan cost $5.90 during afternoon hours. Roque said she no longer goes out, attends concerts, travels, shops or allows herself luxuries, having cut everything to survive, yet faces increases everywhere.
She said she has accumulated fines because she cannot keep enough monthly balance, and that life in the country is becoming unsustainable month after month, to the point of questioning whether to continue. Her post reflects a wider picture: recently, multiple businesses have closed, cut staff and hours, or adjusted operations to cope with rising electricity bills, while groceries, gasoline, water and gas prices keep climbing and salaries show no positive change.