Are you completely exhausted from seeing your bills piling up every month? Do you feel like no matter what you do, your financial situation never actually improves? Are you noticing that your purchasing power can’t afford the same it used to just a few years back?
Money trouble is keeping a growing number of Americans up a night. There has been a lot of uncertainty in recent years about the U.S. economy with inflation, rising interest rates, and the threat of a deep recession. In a new survey by Bankrate, Americans rate financial concerns above health, current events, relationships, and work when it comes to the impact on their mental health. Compared to 42% just a year ago, now 52% of respondents say money has a negative impact on their well-being, causing stress, anxiety, worrisome thoughts, loss of sleep, and depression.
At this point, almost 25% of American adults are food insecure, a jump of about five percentage points from a year earlier as food inflation continues to squeeze household budgets, according to CBS News. Food insecurity indicates that someone isn’t able to secure enough food for a nutritious diet, which can lead to skipping meals or cutting back on food. Those compromises, though, can have serious implications for a person’s health and well-being, health specialists say. The rise in food insecurity comes as more households are struggling to pay their grocery bills given that costs have surged by over 20% since 2022.
Moreover, the pandemic and the following economic downturn have lowered the living standards of millions of US workers, and according to a study published by Newswire, nearly half of Americans, or 45% say they can’t afford their previous lifestyle. Eight out of 10 or 83% of respondents expect the cost of living will become somewhat more or much more expensive in the coming year. Meanwhile, 65% of Americans agree with the statement ‘My income has not increased as fast at the cost of food, beverage, and personal care products.’
Bankrate reports that more than two-thirds of Americans say they’re worried they wouldn’t be able to cover their living expenses for just one month if they suddenly lost their primary source of income. In other words, many people out there are hanging by a thread financially, and several workers are just one missed paycheck away from falling into poverty.
On top of that, more people are using their credit cards to finance everyday necessities. Credit card debt has been rising at the fastest pace of any other consumer debt, with 46% of cardholders carrying debt month to month in 2023. One year ago, only 39% carried debt month to month. Data has also shown that 30% of Americans have between $1,001 and $5,000 in credit card debt, 15% have $5,001 or more in credit card debt and about 6% have more than $10,000 in credit card debt. And even though 6% may seem like a small share, that represents over 14 million people. It’s evident that the average American is being hit from all sides, and today, we decided to compile several facts and stats to prove you’re not alone in this.