By Arlenys Tabare
Faced with the dizzying increase in the prices of food, goods and services in the midst of strong economic uncertainty, Many Americans say their financial situation is getting worsefurther noting that current income is no longer enough to pay bills, pay off credit card debt, and save.
According to A poll recently published by Gallup, it was known that More than 50% of American adults consider their economy to be in a tailspin, indicating that nowadays it is difficult to make ends meet.
In the report, Gallup noted that concerns about affordability dominate this year’s list, with combined mentions of inflation, energy, housing and health care costs, along with college expenses, but “Transportation and childcare costs far outweigh all other types of financial concerns,” he added.
According to Gallup, the survey was conducted between April 1 and 15 with about 1,000 adults.registering one of the highest levels of financial concern since it began its analyzes on finances in 2001, and the records even exceed the data from 2008 with the Great Recession and 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic.
For Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet, “Americans feel these prices very intensely and it is difficult to escape the real increase in costs, and added to the uncertainty about how long this wave of inflation will last, “It’s no surprise that consumer prospects are bleak and a tight budget can become unmanageable pretty quickly when things like gas and food become more expensive,” he told CBS.
On the other hand, in the report, 62% of those surveyed showed great concern about the issue of saving for retirement and paying for their children’s university education.
Recently, the payroll company Dayforce indicated in an analysis that more and more working-age Americans are reducing their retirement savings due primarily to financial pressures. In this sense, he highlighted that the contribution rate has fallen to 8.9% among full-time workers, compared to 9.2% the previous yearbeing one of the most pronounced decreases in three years.
“This should be a red flag. It could be an indication of financial difficulties,” said Jason Rahlan, global director of sustainability and impact at Dayforce, noting that The decline in retirement savings is occurring largely among middle-class Americans.
Another concern Gallup respondents mentioned is their savings card debt; About 28% of respondents are concerned about only having to pay the minimum on their credit cards, putting them further and further behind in their goals of improving their credit records.
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