Affordability continues to be the main financial challenge for U.S. households
I get weary of listening to the constant blame game of Biden did this or that and we were paying for it in this presidency, A convenient way for Trump to hide and Republicans to blame the past presidency. It is B.S.
“The post-pandemic recovery is an economic policy success story: Policymakers took the best way through a rocky path” (Economic Policy Institute).
“Those claiming that this period of inflation represents some obvious policy mistake need to specify what they would have done differently and how their action would have led to lower inflation but not to lower real wage growth or higher unemployment. This is awfully hard to do credibly. The general criticism is that the fiscal relief and recovery measures were too aggressive, and the Federal Reserve waited too long to start raising interest rates. In the jargon, the criticism is that aggregate demand—spending by households, businesses and governments—should have been reined in much more sharply.”
BS . . . Review on the cost of living in the United States today. What is occurring today belongs to this presidency.
“Affordability Still Dominates Americans’ Financial Worries,”
Lydia Saad
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The high cost of living continues to top Americans’ list of the most important financial problems facing their families. The 31% citing it in an open-ended question is below the 41% peak in 2024 but similar to a year ago and among the highest in Gallup’s more than 20-year trend.
Energy costs, which have risen notably this year, are mentioned by 13% of Americans, up 10 percentage points from last year and the highest since 2008 — tying housing costs as the second-biggest concern. Healthcare ranks fourth at 8%, consistent with readings since 2020.
These findings are from Gallup’s annual Economy and Personal Finance survey, conducted April 1-15.
Overall, affordability concerns dominate this year’s list, with combined mentions of inflation, energy, housing and healthcare costs — along with college expenses, transportation costs and childcare — far exceeding all other types of financial concerns.
- Certain economic conditions or programs are the next-most-cited type of issue Americans name. These include taxes (6%), the state of the economy (2%), the stock market (2%), interest rates (2%) and Social Security (1%).
- Insufficient income ranks as a close third category of concerns, including those citing lack of money or low wages (7%) and unemployment or job loss (4%).
- This is followed by those saying they have too much debt generally (6%) or on credit cards specifically (1%).
- The least-cited type of financial challenge involves lack of savings — either retirement savings (3%) or savings generally (2%).
While affordability issues are usually the top category of responses, this is the fifth consecutive year that they have led by a wide margin.
Supporting this finding, a recent Gallup Panel survey shows 55% of Americans reporting that recent price increases have been a hardship on their ability to maintain their standard of living, largely unchanged since 2023 after being lower in late 2021 and early 2022.
A Closer Look . . .
Slump in Consumers’ Financial Outlook Persists
With cost issues continuing to be top of mind, Americans’ overall assessments of their current financial situation are similar to what they have been each year since 2022.
Less than half continue to rate their financial situation as “excellent” or “good” (currently 46%), and more than a third call it “only fair” (35%). Relatively few say their situation is “poor” (19%).
The recent dip in people’s confidence about their finances contrasts with 2016 through 2021, when half or more typically rated their finances positively. Today’s readings are more in line with 2008-2015, although not quite as negative as the ones during and immediately after the Great Recession from 2009 to 2011, when about four in 10 were positive.
Americans’ financial outlook in 2026 is also historically poor, with a record 55% now saying their financial situation is getting worse. While similar to last year’s 53%, this is up from 47% in 2024 and marks the fifth consecutive year more Americans say their finances are worsening rather than improving.
The only similar multiyear period when the larger share felt their financial situation was worsening was during the Great Recession.
Financial Worries Remain Elevated
Americans’ concerns about specific aspects of their finances are generally steady compared with last year but elevated compared with 2021.
Majorities worry about not having enough money for retirement (62%) and being unable to cover medical costs in the event of a serious accident or illness (60%). Slightly smaller majorities (54% each) worry about their investment returns and maintaining their standard of living.
Nearly half are concerned about routine healthcare costs (48%), while 41% worry about paying their normal monthly bills and 40% about affording college. Fewer worry about housing costs (35%) or making minimum credit card payments (28%).
While largely unchanged over the past year, these concerns had already increased between 2021 and 2025, spanning the rise of inflation levels, and they remain elevated today. The biggest increases since 2021 include an 11-point rise in worry about making minimum credit card payments and twin nine-point increases in concern about maintaining one’s standard of living and paying monthly bills. Concern about paying for a child’s education was flat between 2021 and 2025, with about a third worried, but has now increased to 40%.
Bottom Line
Affordability continues to be the main financial challenge for U.S. households, with concerns about various costs far outpacing all other financial worries. Inflation rose steadily in 2021, from 1.4% in January to 7% by December, and peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. It has since retreated, registering under 3% for most months since early 2025. Yet it has not consistently returned to the sub–3% range typical of the decade before 2021 — something consumers may be anticipating. Combined with the lingering effects of sustained inflation during and after the pandemic, Americans’ financial perceptions and outlook remain cautious.
Off topic, but too ridiculous to overlook: “Kamala Harris emerges as clear 2028 front-runner in new poll”
Kamala Harris emerges as clear 2028 front-runner in new poll
After blowing a $billion on a vacuous, content-free campaign that resulted in a Democratic disaster, how could anyone think of rehabilitating her for 2028? I mean, the Democratic Party, already overrun with empty suits posing as representatives for we, the people, might at least do us the favor of putting forward a fresh face to hoodwink us and mask their lack of principles and abundance of pusillanimity.
Guess not.
John:
The disaster(s) I saw was Trump being handed his comeuppance during the debate, millions of people who chose not to vote, millions voting for other candidates such as Kennedy, ~480,000 voting for write-ins and another ~460,000 voting for unnamed others. That really taught the nation a lesson now didn’t it? With the havoc Trump has created in the presidency, it will be decades before such is fixed. How many people lost healthcare to give tax breaks to the upper 10% in income?
The only disaster occurring was perpetuated by people until themselves because again they did not want an intelligent woman as the president much less one of color.
Coming back to topic–:Simply asking people to think about inflation reduced approval of the Biden-Harris administration and reduced confidence in the Democratic Party leadership’s ability to manage the economy. In other words, when people thought about inflation, their support for the Democratic Party fell.”
The impact of inflation on the 2024 presidential election
“‘Not a thing that comes to mind’ for Harris on what she would have done differently from Biden”
‘Not a thing that comes to mind’ for Harris on what she would have done differently from Biden
Talk about being out of touch!!! The very definition of an empty suit: a person in a position of authority who stands for nothing, is ineffective or incompetent, often remembered more for their appearance than their accomplishments.
John H:
That is where both you and them do not get it. There was not much a president could do except fund the economy which ended up in inflation. You do not remember the loans to businesses. The extension of aid to citizens. The shrinking of packaging for items. Hey, what is greedflation? Exxon-Mobil took advantage by leveraging high gasoline and home-heating costs. Corporate profits drove nearly 40% of the increase in consumer prices between late 2019 and mid-2022.
The biggest study of ‘greedflation’ yet looked at 1,300 corporations to find many of them were lying to you about inflation. A joint study by think tanks IPPR and Common Wealth found profiteering by some of the world’s biggest companies forced prices up significantly higher than costs during 2022. The biggest study of ‘greedflation’ yet looked at 1,300 corporations to find many of them were lying to you about inflation
There was package shrinkage. Some of the thieves: PepsiCo (Gatorade, Frito-Lay), Kimberly-Clark (Kleenex, Cottonelle), Procter & Gamble (Gain, Charmin), Domino’s, and Tillamook.
From toilet paper to candy bars, companies hide rising costs by shrinking the size of everyday products. Here’s what that looks like
Do not be ridiculous.
Bill, you are still making excuses for Kamala and Democrats in general. What Kamala should have done is to forcefully address Americans’ concerns about inflation. Yeah, there was a week in late August where she talked a bit about inflation, but her effort was too short and too weak to hammer the point home with voters.
Instead of simply saying that there was nothing she would have done differently from Biden, she could have acknowledged that, while Biden did good things, there was a lot more that needed to get done. She could have constantly acknowledged the pain people were feeling about high prices…giving lots of examples and then talking about her determination to reign prices in by hyping egregious price gouging by some of Trump’s major donors. Tell me she couldn’t have made herself credible by focusing a good bit of that wasted $billion on that issue…
Hillary had the same problem in 2016. She was dealing with an Obama economy that was finally showing some good progress after years of slow growth and wage stagnation. But she never really acknowledged voters’ kitchen table concerns and, while praising Obama’s progress, never voiced a strong, credible determination to make voters’ kitchen table situation a lot better.
And you wonder why Democrats’ favorability polls at almost -60% negative, near a record low, despite the Trump disaster?
Instead of simply sitting around, salivating at the prospect of Trump’s implosion, and passively waiting for voters to throw the bum out, maybe they could recruit candidates who actually hear what voters are saying and then show a deep determination to address those issues. But instead, candidates like Mamdani, who has shown the effectiveness of this, get refused endorsement by party leaders like Schumer and Jeffries (who actually endorsed Mamdani, but only at the last minute.)
@John,
” . . .maybe they could recruit candidates who actually hear what voters are saying and then show a deep determination to address those issues.”
You mean like Platner in Maine? You mean like Pillersdorf in Kentucky?
More here:
Our Candidates are Pledging to Fight
Instead of sitting around, bleating GOP talking points and passively waiting for someone to point out what’s actually happening this election cycle, maybe you should do a little independent research on your own.
Yawn…wake me up when Democratic officialdumb (Schumer, Jeffries) endorses any non-incumbent Justice Democrats.
Psst, John. Schumer endorsed Platner.
Instead of sitting around, bleating GOP talking points and passively waiting for someone to point out what’s actually happening this election cycle, maybe you should do a little independent research on your own.
John:
I have a rough time dealing with bigots and racists. It was quite obvious the nation did not want a woman as their president much less a woman of color. So they elected one who obviously has little or no regard for them unless they have money and influence. A dumb ass to boot.
This has nothing to do with the economy which I explained in great detail as well as the voting details for the last election. It has nothing to do with the economy pre-Trump who is well on his way in destroying any progress we have made during an epidemic.
Watch what you say.
Plattner is not a Social Justice Democrats, so…yawn…wake me when Schumer endorses once.
So far we know that Plattner has been talking the talk (so did Obama in 2008. It remains to be seen if he walks the walk.
@John,
LOL!!
So only Democrats that fit the Social Justice procrustean bed meet with your approval? Who appointed you arbiter of liberals? It remains to be seen if *you* walk the walk.
No, I take that back. I can see that you don’t walk the walk. You believe in the 3rd party tooth fairy, you don’t care about progressivism, Chuck Schumer or the Democratic Party.
@John,
“The very definition of an empty suit: a person in a position of authority who stands for nothing, is ineffective or incompetent, often remembered more for their appearance than their accomplishments.”
Compared to Trump, she was a paragon of competence and effectiveness. Trump will certainly be remembered for his accomplishments, but none of them are good.
Posting right-wing talking points is neither competent nor effective, John.
In a year and a half, Trump has taken an economy that was on a recovering track and turned it into a disaster of chaos and unpredictability via tariffs, Iran, reckless immigration policies, and major disruptions in healthcare for those who need it. None of which would have resulted had we elected Kamala Harris.
And I again remind, to win the 270 electoral votes, Harris only lost by 231,646 votes — WI by 29,417 votes; MI by 80,618; and PA by 121,611. There is very little reporting on this fact, and a lot of misleading reporting about “Trump’s big win.” Not bad for a hurry-up 100 day campaign.
It sounds like you would vote for Kemi Badenoch, UK Conservative Party leader…a black, female politician who is “still working out exactly where she stands – and how far she’s prepared to go.” I mean, who cares what she stands for, if anything, as long as voters vote for the right identity combo?
@John,
Who is this addressed to? Neither Bill nor I can vote for any UK candidate since we’re not citizens of the UK. Sounds like you don’t know how elections work in the UK.