Americans struggling financially amid rising living costs, surveys show

SACRAMENTO, the United States, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. families are facing deepening financial distress amid rising costs of living, with many forced to take on debt, skip meals or forgo medical care to make ends meet, recent surveys have shown.

According to a survey released last week by the Century Foundation, of the 2,007 respondents, six in 10 blamed the U.S. administration for driving up their cost of living.

More than half of the respondents believed that billionaires, corporations and congressional Republicans have made their lives harder, the survey said.

To manage the high cost of living, the survey said Americans are turning to debt and other risky financial products and practices. In the past year, more than 40 percent of Americans had dipped into savings, and 37 percent had turned to credit cards to cover basic expenses.

Families across income levels reported anxiety about unexpected costs. The survey showed that nearly half of Americans said they would struggle to pay a surprise bill of over 500 U.S. dollars without borrowing, and almost two thirds worried about covering an unplanned medical expense.

Among households earning under 50,000 dollars annually, more than half fear they cannot afford rent or mortgage payments, the survey added.

The survey also highlighted widespread concern about long-term economic mobility. Over 70 percent of respondents said it had become harder in the past 25 years to buy a home or pay for college, and nearly the same share reported difficulty finding affordable child care.

Persistent inflation in food, housing and energy has reduced Americans' purchasing power. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for meats, poultry, fish and eggs jumped 5.6 percent for the 12 months ending June, driven largely by a 27.3-percent jump in egg prices.

According to the U.S. Federal Reserve's report on the economic well-being of U.S. households in 2024, 32 percent of adults said their family's monthly income had increased from a year earlier, but an even larger share, or 37 percent, reported higher monthly spending. As a result, 60 percent said rising prices had made their financial situation worse.

A May survey published by the Pew Research Center revealed that 28 percent of adults expected their financial situation to worsen over the following year, up significantly from 16 percent in May 2024. ■