More Americans are struggling to pay their household bills compared with a year ago, but the rise in hardship isn’t hitting all groups equally.
Older workers and people over 65, who are largely retired, have experienced the sharpest rise in financial hardship among all age groups compared with a year earlier, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data.
The share of people 55- to 64-years-old who said they had difficulty paying their bills in the last seven days rose 8 percentage points in late April to early May versus a year ago. A startling 37% of people in that age group report finding it somewhat or very difficult to handle their financial obligations. Almost 30% of seniors, or those 65 years and older, are struggling to pay their expenses, a 7 percentage point jump from a year earlier.
Financial hardship is rising across most age groups after two years of high inflation that continues to strain household budgets. The impact has been hardest on older Americans, partly because older workers failed to receive the boost to wages that lifted the earnings of younger employees during the pandemic and as Social Security checks for seniors have lagged inflation, experts say.
“The youngest consumers are most likely to be the beneficiaries of a rising wage environment,” noted Charlie Wise, senior vice president and head of global research and consulting at TransUnion. “Many baby boomers are retired and they are on fixed incomes, and they aren’t keeping up with inflation the same way young consumers are.”
Read more at CBSnews.com
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