Rising Health Care Costs Might Be Ruining The Restaurant Industry

Restaurant spending has been declining the past few months and an investigation by CivicScience suggested it might have to do with health insurance.

Theories as to why people were eating out less included stress over the coming election — which is also suspected to be the culprit of low NFL ratings — and deflation of grocery prices. However, these theories were debunked by CivicScience data, which showed that only 9 percent of people chose the election as the reason for decreased restaurant spending, and chief economist Bruce Grindy of National Restaurant Association observed that lowery grocery prices should actually increase disposable income.

CivicScience observed a strong correlation between health insurance and decreased restaurant spending. According to its data, 47 percent of diners who experienced an increase in the cost of health insurance responded that they have cut back on restaurant spending at "least somewhat." Among those with higher health insurance costs, 30 percent were more likely to significantly cut back on spending.