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Gas prices are reaching record highs for this month, increasing 53 cents since January. American families spent $3.7 million more on gasoline the week ending March 9 than they did the week ending January 2–even though average weekly gasoline purchases are among the lowest in 11 years. But while high gas prices affect all Americans, Latino families bear a heavier financial burden than most.

Seventy-two percent of Latino households are experiencing financial hardship–with 41 percent reporting "serious hardship"–as a result of rising gas prices, says a new Center for American Progress Action Fund poll. The numbers are even worse for Latinos in the heavily car-dependent state of California, where prices regularly breach $4 per gallon and an overwhelming 88 percent of Latinos reported financial hardship due to rising gas prices last year.