58% of Americans report living paycheck to paycheck: Survey

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
11 Apr 2023 22:47
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70% of respondents reported feeling high levels of stress over their finances due to inflation, economic uncertainty, and rising interest rates.

A customer shops in a supermarket as inflation affected consumer prices in New York City, on June 10, 2022 (Reuters)

A CNBC poll published on Tuesday revealed that 58% of Americans have to live paycheck to paycheck, while 70% of respondents reported feeling high levels of stress over their finances due to inflation, economic uncertainty, and rising interest rates.

The results also showed that the overall financial health of Americans dropped from 64% in 2022 to 55% this year, citing a MetLife Annual Employee Benefits Trend study.

About 45% of American adults say they have an emergency fund, as per the poll results. Out of these people, 26% say they have less than $5,000 saved aside.

In July 2022, a US Census Bureau survey revealed that the proportion of Americans who report having difficulty paying their expenses has surpassed its 2020 pandemic peak, highlighting the financial toll of rising costs.

In a poll conducted in late June and early July 2022, four out of ten adults indicated that it has been somewhat or very difficult to fund normal family expenses. This is the largest number since the Census began asking about the topic in August 2020.

It suggests that over 90 million families are struggling, an increase from almost 60 million a year ago.

On March 22, 2023, a report by Urban Institute revealed that with significant food price inflation in 2022, food hardship has increased for many households across the country.

The share of adults reporting food insecurity increased in the United States from 20% to 24%, between December 2021 and December 2022. In 2022, the rate of food insecurity was not statistically different from the rate in the year preceding the pandemic (23.4% in 2019).

However, between 2019 and 2022, Hispanic/Latino and black adults were consistently at a greater risk of food insecurity than white adults, reflecting longstanding disparities in opportunity and access to resources.