Inflation pain: 44% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck

Inflation may have a bigger impact on the financial health of Americans than the COVID-19 pandemic did, according to findings from a new study by real estate data company Clever Real Estate.

The study, conducted online in January, revealed that 70% of those who responded said inflation has impacted their finances more than the pandemic, and a similar percentage (68%) think inflation is having a bigger impact on the U.S. economy as a whole than the pandemic.

Against the backdrop of a second financial blow to Americans already struggling to recover from the impact COVID-19 had on their finances, stress levels are on the rise. The survey found that 73% of Americans in debt are stressed about money and one in 20 believe they will never be able to pay off their debt. More than half of Americans said they have cried over their finances and a similar percentage said they have fought with loved ones over money issues in the past year.

Nearly half (44%) of Americans report that they are currently living paycheck to paycheck, which is slightly down from last year when 48% reported that they were living paycheck to paycheck. To make ends meet, Americans are taking some drastic measures, including skipping meals and skipping medical appointments. Nearly one-third of Americans are working a side job for additional income and the same percentage said they have dipped into emergency funds or savings. About 12% said they had taken money out of a retirement account to meet financial needs today.

While many Americans are dipping into emergency funds to cover their living expenses, almost half of Americans don’t have emergency savings to turn to, and 38% of those who do have some emergency savings said they will likely run out of savings this year.

A majority of those surveyed think the government should help.

“What was most surprising to me is that a large majority of Americans support another distribution of stimulus checks,” said Sam M. Huisache, a content writer at Clever Real Estate. “The two rounds of stimulus checks distributed were depicted as being extremely polarizing both in Congress and among the American public. However, we found that 82% of Americans support the government distributing more stimulus checks.

“Furthermore, three-fourths of Americans (74%) say the government should distribute stimulus checks scaled by income level,” continued Huisache. “This means that nearly 3 in 4 respondents support Americans with lower incomes receiving bigger stimulus checks than those who are rich or wealthy. This contradicts the perception that a large portion of Americans felt that stimulus checks were ‘unfair.’”

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Meanwhile, only 18% of Americans favored student loan debt relief as a government intervention that would help them, according to the survey. It noted that federal student loan payments remain paused for many as a relief program that was launched during the pandemic.

Overall, Americans said a lower cost of living would help their financial situation the most.

“Employers can offer financial support to their employees in a number of ways given our current economic climate,” said Huisache. “Employers can assist with finances by providing financial education resources, such as workshops or seminars, and access to financial advisors. They can also consider providing benefits that can help alleviate financial stress, such as flexible work arrangements, emergency savings accounts, and at a bare minimum — annual cost of living adjustments to their wages and salaries to keep up with inflation.

“Employers can also offer employee assistance programs that provide confidential counseling for personal and financial issues,” he said. “It is of the utmost importance that employers create a culture of open communication and encourage employees to seek help if they are struggling financially.”

Kristen Beckman is a freelance writer based in Colorado. She previously was a writer and editor for ALM’s Retirement Advisor magazine and LifeHealthPro online channel.