For the second time this year and the sixth time in three years, the US Postal Service has hiked the cost of a First Class Forever stamp. Now, first class stamps cost 73 cents apiece — a 5-cent increase in 2024 alone, and a 32-cent increase since the first Forever stamp debuted in 2007 at 41 cents.
While postage increases are generally tied to inflation, prices have increased about 10 percentage points faster than inflation during the last three years, according to CNN. The aggressive postage hikes, part of the Postal Service's 10-year Delivering for America plan, are intended to shore up the agency's finances, but critics say that the higher prices are likely to have the opposite effect and drive away the businesses and organizations that generate the vast majority of today's mail volume.
Without these major mailers to drive the lion's share of Postal Service revenues, important services might suffer. Package delivery, which Americans use to receive everything from consumer goods to lifesaving prescription drugs, might slow or increase in price. And first class mail delivery delays — already a serious problem, according to Government Executive — may continue to worsen.
