Half of adults are stressed about personal finances, survey finds

At least half of adults in several major economies report being stressed about their personal finances and say inflation is a major reason.

A significant number also say they feel worse off financially than their parents and are pessimistic about their children’s financial future, according to SurveyMonkey’s International Financial Security Survey.

In the United States, Australia, Spain and Mexico, about 70% of adults say they are “very or somewhat stressed” about money. This percentage fell slightly to 63% in the UK, 57% in Germany, 55% in Switzerland and around half of people in Singapore and France.

In these countries, between half and two-thirds of people say they consider themselves middle class – except in the UK, where the figure is less than 37%.

Yet although the middle classes are traditionally considered financially well-off, between 45% and 62% of those who classify themselves in this group describe themselves as “living paycheck to paycheck.”

Half of adults in Australia, Germany and the UK said their situation was worse than five years ago.

Meanwhile, among the countries surveyed, only adults in Singapore and Mexico were more likely than not to say they were financially better off than their parents.

Inflation has been widely cited as the source of financial stress, along with lack of savings, economic instability and rising interest rates.

The study of 4,342 adults was carried out in March and published on Wednesday,

“The health of the global economy, while tepid in some areas, is not reflected in the perception of the average person… Despite the performance of the economy as a whole, about half of adults are stressed by their personal finances in every country. studied around the world,” said Eric Johnson, CEO of SurveyMonkey, in an accompanying article.

Global economic growth is slowing, but most developed economies have avoided expected recessions amid high inflation and rising interest rates. Labor markets have proven resilient, but many surveys have revealed gloomy sentiment among consumers who have been hit hard by rising prices for household bills and everyday goods.