[leereeves]

> No one ever cared, at least in the U.S. about 'food rent healthcare transport'. In the U.S. we don't combine those ideas together. Unless you're a student or a politician, almost no one talks like that.

GP said "essential things like food, rent, and transport, let alone healthcare".

I think you're right that we rarely phrase it like 'food rent healthcare transport', but "average people" certainly talk about spending so much on essentials that there's nothing left for fun, or being unable to afford the essentials.