Personal Finance
Survey: 70% of Adults Worried About Financial Health in 2024
With 2024 still less than two weeks old, a new report from Doxo highlights how consumers fared in 2023 and how they’re feeling about the new year in terms of their finances.
About the results:
Doxo’s latest survey first looked back at consumers’ finances in 2023 before looking ahead to this year. According to the results, the average household spent a total of $2,046 per month on bills last year. That works out to $24,557 for the year — or about 35% of the median household income of $70,784. As noted, this figure was impacted by inflation, including a 6% increase in the price of groceries.
Staying in 2023, 82% of respondents said they had difficulty staying on top of householder bills. Elsewhere, despite rising inflation, nearly two-thirds of those surveyed reported that their salary had increased by just 1% or less during the year. As a result, 74% said they made adjustments to their spending habits.
Turning to 2024, respondents had mixed feelings about what’s ahead. First, 65% of those surveyed said they were at least somewhat relieved by recent figures that show inflation cooling. Nevertheless, 70% stated that they were concerned about their financial health. Similarly, 60% expected that it would take six months or more before their overall financial health improved.
What they’re saying:
Commenting on the latest report, Doxo’s senior director of Insights Liz Powell said, “Signs like a hot job market and cooling inflation are pointing to an improving economy, with 2/3 of Americans saying they’re at least somewhat relieved by these economic indicators. However, households are still rebounding, and in many cases will take six months or more to rebound, from recent volatility.” Powell added, “In addition to the impact that rising grocery bills had on consumers in the last year, utilities remain at the top of the list of bills that Americans are most concerned about being able to pay, for the second year running.”
My thoughts:
The impact that inflation has had on household finances in recent years is very real and has led some some difficulties for many Americans. Even though those trends are now slowing, that doesn’t mean that prices are necessarily reversing, meaning that those whose income has failed to keep up are still suffering. Because of this, it’s really no wonder that such a significant percentage of respondents would be concerned about their finances in the new year and/or feel as though they’ll need time to recover. Hopefully, however, they’ll be able to find their financial footing far sooner than expected.
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