Bidenflation: Majority of Americans Now Worry About Maintaining Their Standard of Living

A majority of Americans say they are worried about being able to maintain their standard of living, poll results released Monday by Gallup showed.

Fifty-two percent saw they are worried about their standard of living, up four points from 2020. This is the first time a majority has worried about being able to maintain their standard of living since 2016, Gallup said.

The worries are even more pronounced about lower-income Americans. The share of Americans earnings $40,000 or less who say they worried about maintaining their standard of living has soared 17 points 56 percent in 2021 to 73 percent today. It has increased six points to 52 percent among middle-income earners, defined as earning between $40,0000 and $100,000, and four points to 36 percent among the top income group.

Sixty-five percent of lower-income Americans say they worry about having enough money to pay their monthly bills, up 15 percentage points from a year ago. Fifty-nine percent say they worry about paying housing costs, including rent and mortgages, up 12 points from 2021. Seventy-five percent say they are worried they will not have enough saved for retirement, also up 12 points.

Lower income households are also more concerned over health care costs. Paying medical bills for a serious illness or accident is a concern for 72 percent of lower-income Americans, up 10 points. Paying ordinary medical bills is a concern 62 percent of lower-income Americans, up nine points.

For the population as a whole, there has been little change in the share of adults worried about paying medical costs for normal healthcare (43 percent), paying medical costs for a serious health illness or accident (56 percent), or paying for a child’s college education (36 percent). The share of high-income adults saying they are worried about being able to pay for healthcare actually declined a bit.

But higher-income Americans also registered an increase in economic anxiety. The share worried about paying monthly bills more than doubled from a low of seven percent last year to 18 percent today. Likewise, the share saying they are worried about paying their housing costs jumped from seven percent to 15 percent.
The latest results are based on Gallup’s Economy and Personal Finance poll, conducted April 1-19. The poll also found Americans’ rating of their financial health sliding significantly, with a third citing inflation and another 10 percent citing energy costs as the top financial problems facing their family.