As inflation heats up, 64% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck

[beijingwalker]

As inflation heats up, 64% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck​

PUBLISHED TUE, MAR 8 20228:40 AM

Jessica Dickler

KEY POINTS

• The increased cost of living is straining households nearly across the board.
• Almost two-thirds of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck, according to one report.

As daily life gets more expensive, workers are having a harder time making ends meet.

While wage growth is high by historical standards, it isn’t keeping up with the increased cost of living, which is growing at the fastest annual pace in about four decades.

“Wages are up 5.1% over the past year, which is trailing the pace of inflation,” said Bankrate.com senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick. “Indeed, surging prices are stealing the show on the minds of consumers.”

When wages rise at a slower pace than inflation, those paychecks won’t go as far at the grocery store and at the gas pump — two areas of the budget that are getting particularly squeezed.

At the start of 2022, 64% of the U.S. population was living paycheck to paycheck, up from 61% in December and just shy of the high of 65% in 2020, according to a LendingClub report.

“We are all seeing the cost of everything shooting up,” said Anuj Nayar, LendingClub’s financial health officer. However, paying more for gas and groceries is hitting households particularly hard, he said.

“You’ve got to eat, you’ve got to commute; these are not discretionary expenses.”

Even among those earning six figures, 48% said they are now living paycheck to paycheck, up from 42% in December, the survey of more than 2,600 adults found.

“Depending on here you live, $100,000 may not get you that far,” Nayar said.

In San Francisco, for example, a family of four with a household of under $120,000 is considered low income. (Here’s a breakdown of how much you need to earn to afford to live in the country’s most popular cities.)

Americans now say they need to be making roughly $122,000 a year, more than double the current national average salary, to feel financially secure, according to a separate report from financial services website Personal Capital.

As inflation heats up, 64% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck

The number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck is climbing, despite rising wages.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

As inflation heats up, 64% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck​

PUBLISHED TUE, MAR 8 20228:40 AM

Jessica Dickler

KEY POINTS

• The increased cost of living is straining households nearly across the board.
• Almost two-thirds of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck, according to one report.

As daily life gets more expensive, workers are having a harder time making ends meet.

While wage growth is high by historical standards, it isn’t keeping up with the increased cost of living, which is growing at the fastest annual pace in about four decades.

“Wages are up 5.1% over the past year, which is trailing the pace of inflation,” said Bankrate.com senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick. “Indeed, surging prices are stealing the show on the minds of consumers.”

When wages rise at a slower pace than inflation, those paychecks won’t go as far at the grocery store and at the gas pump — two areas of the budget that are getting particularly squeezed.

At the start of 2022, 64% of the U.S. population was living paycheck to paycheck, up from 61% in December and just shy of the high of 65% in 2020, according to a LendingClub report.

“We are all seeing the cost of everything shooting up,” said Anuj Nayar, LendingClub’s financial health officer. However, paying more for gas and groceries is hitting households particularly hard, he said.

“You’ve got to eat, you’ve got to commute; these are not discretionary expenses.”

Even among those earning six figures, 48% said they are now living paycheck to paycheck, up from 42% in December, the survey of more than 2,600 adults found.

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“Depending on here you live, $100,000 may not get you that far,” Nayar said.

In San Francisco, for example, a family of four with a household of under $120,000 is considered low income. (Here’s a breakdown of how much you need to earn to afford to live in the country’s most popular cities.)

Americans now say they need to be making roughly $122,000 a year, more than double the current national average salary, to feel financially secure, according to a separate report from financial services website Personal Capital.

As inflation heats up, 64% of Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck

The number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck is climbing, despite rising wages.

www.cnbc.com

Living paycheck to paycheck is great. You do not have to worry about investing your savings in the stock market and losing all your savings.

 

[beijingwalker]

Living paycheck to paycheck is great. You do not have to worry about investing your savings in the stock market and losing all your savings.

But it's not far from struggling to meet ends meet.

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

But it's not far from struggling to meet ends meet.

Why bother working when US government provides free housing and food?

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

In San Francisco, for example, a family of four with a household of under $120,000 is considered low income. (Here’s a breakdown of how much you need to earn to afford to live in the country’s most popular cities.)

This is exactly why when you always read reports of "X percent" of Americans being low income you have to not use a World Health Organization chart of say $4/day...because it not anywhere close to the standards the US uses.

A family making $120,000 is not poor and the main reason they are low income is because they are actually surrounded by people who are high income. Look at the crazy definition of low income in San Francisco:

Who Is Low-Income and Very Low Income in the Bay Area? | Bay Area Equity Atlas

bayareaequityatlas.org

"Low-income families are defined as those with incomes that are between 50 percent and 80 percent of the area median income"



They are poor if they decided they just have to buy a $2M house, dual expensive cars to go with it, and live paycheck to paycheck. They put themselves in unnecessary "poverty".

 

[mmr]

This is exactly why when you always read reports of "X percent" of Americans being low income you have to not use a World Health Organization chart of say $4/day...because it not anywhere close to the standards the US uses.

A family making $120,000 is not poor and the main reason they are low income is because they are actually surrounded by people who are high income. Look at the crazy definition of low income in San Francisco:

Who Is Low-Income and Very Low Income in the Bay Area? | Bay Area Equity Atlas

bayareaequityatlas.org

"Low-income families are defined as those with incomes that are between 50 percent and 80 percent of the area median income"



They are poor if they decided they just have to buy a $2M house, dual expensive cars to go with it, and live paycheck to paycheck. They put themselves in unnecessary "poverty".

As per PDF you are poor if you cant afford Three million dollar detached in Vancouver.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

As per PDF you are poor if you cant Three million dollar detached in Vancouver.

Yes, as if not buying that $3M detached house in Vancouver points to a personal failure.

 

[beijingwalker]

This is exactly why when you always read reports of "X percent" of Americans being low income you have to not use a World Health Organization chart of say $4/day...because it not anywhere close to the standards the US uses.

A family making $120,000 is not poor and the main reason they are low income is because they are actually surrounded by people who are high income. Look at the crazy definition of low income in San Francisco:

Who Is Low-Income and Very Low Income in the Bay Area? | Bay Area Equity Atlas

bayareaequityatlas.org

"Low-income families are defined as those with incomes that are between 50 percent and 80 percent of the area median income"



They are poor if they decided they just have to buy a $2M house, dual expensive cars to go with it, and live paycheck to paycheck. They put themselves in unnecessary "poverty".

It all depends on the local cost of living, with US soaring inflation, average people now struggle, printing money around the clock is not the right way to manage a country.

 

[Abdul Rehman Majeed]

It all depends on the local cost of living, with US soaring inflation, average people now struggle, printing money around the clock in not the right way to manage a country.

US leaders do not care about average US citizen.

 

[HAIDER]