Money woes keeping people up at night
Surprisingly, many of the folks unable to get enough shuteye are actually optimistic about improving their situation.
They’d rather be counting dollars.
But counting sheep certainly isn’t doing it, since 78 percent of U.S. adults are lying awake staring at the ceiling because of stresses that include work and relationships—up 9 percent since 2018—but 56 percent say it’s all due to money, money, money.
Or, rather, its lack.
That’s according to a BankRate survey that finds that 32 percent of those with money insomnia are awake because of everyday money issues, but that’s certainly not their only money concern.
Also acting like an infusion of caffeine at bedtime are
- concerns about saving enough for retirement (24 percent lie awake thinking about this one)
- health care or insurance bills (22 percent)
- the ability to pay credit card debt (18 percent)
- mortgage or rent payments (18 percent)
- educational expenses (11 percent)
- stock market volatility (5 percent)
GenXers make up the largest percentage of insomniacs, with 64 percent of them abandoning dreamland because of money woes.
Millennials come next, with 58 percent unable to fall asleep, and boomers trail—but not by much, since 54 percent of them are counting bills instead of sheep.
Unsurprisingly, those with lower incomes are also the most likely to be losing sleep, with 63 percent of those with incomes under $30,000 a year struggling to find Morpheus compared with 53 percent of those who make $80,000 or more. So it follows that women (who of course trail men in earnings) are also more likely to be struggling to doze off, with 59 percent losing sleep compared with 54 percent of men.
And considering the relative cost of living in the Northeast, it’s probably also to be expected that 61 percent of Northeasterners are unable to welcome the sandman, compared with 52 percent of Midwesterners.
What may be surprising is how many of the folks unable to get enough shuteye are actually optimistic about improving their situation: 63 percent say they’ll be able to resolve their biggest issue and 77 are actively working on a solution.
But 51 percent of those lying awake mulling credit card debt are pessimistic about improving their situation. (Two other categories outside of money are regarded with pessimism by the sleep-deprived: politics, at 62 percent, and climate change, at 66 percent.)
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