Close to half of Americans are having trouble paying for basic needs, according to a study by the Pew Research Center, as the rising cost of living continues to exact its toll.
The financial burden is especially acute for lower-income adults. Nearly three-quarters said they struggled to pay for food, housing, medical care or daily transportation in the past year compared with 13 percent of upper-income adults. About half of those on the lower end of the income spectrum said they could not pay some of their bills each month, and 77 percent said they did not have enough money to cover expenses for three months in an emergency.
Black and Hispanic adults, women, young people and those without college degrees were more likely to say they faced financial challenges. Still, Americans across income levels, including 51 percent of wealthier adults, said they cut back in the past year on discretionary spending such as eating out and entertainment.
“We find consistently that these groups that are more likely to have lower family incomes are the ones who are struggling the most,” said Juliana Horowitz, senior associate director of research at the Pew Research Center.
The findings help illuminate the frustration over the economy that has become a defining issue heading into the midterm elections. Many Americans remain intensely anxious about their ability to afford daily life as stubborn inflation and higher gas prices brought on by the war in Iran continue to lift costs.
Views about economic inequality have changed as well, according to another Pew study. Roughly a quarter of people who said there was too much economic inequality also said the economic system needed to be completely rebuilt. That was up from 14 percent from 2019.
Democrats were almost twice as likely as Republicans to say there was too much economic inequality.
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