Almost half of adults feel stressed about their personal finances, a new survey across a range of developed countries has found.
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At least half of major economies report feeling stressed about their personal finances, citing inflation as one of the main reasons.
A significant number also said they felt worse financially than their parents and were pessimistic about their children’s economic future. Found the international Your Money financial security survey conducted by SurveyMonkey.
In the United States, Australia, Spain and Mexico, about 70% of adults say they are “very or somewhat stressed” about money. The proportion fell slightly to 63% in the UK, 57% in Germany, 55% in Switzerland, and about half in Singapore and France.
Across these countries, between half and two-thirds of people said they considered themselves part of the middle class, with the exception of the UK, where the proportion was as low as 37%.
However, even though the middle class is traditionally considered to be financially well-off, between 45% and 62% of people in that group consider themselves “living paycheck to paycheck.” says.
Half of adults in Australia, Germany and the UK say their living conditions are worse off than they were five years ago.
Meanwhile, adults in Singapore and Mexico were the only countries surveyed to say they were better off financially than their parents.
Inflation was widely cited as a cause of financial stress, along with lack of savings, economic instability, and rising interest rates.
The study of 4,342 adults was conducted in March and published on Wednesday.
“The health of the global economy, while slowing in some regions, is not reflected in average people’s perceptions…Despite the economy’s strong performance, around half of adults in every country “We studied people around the world who are stressed about their personal finances,” SurveyMonkey CEO Eric Johnson said in an accompanying article.
Global economic growth has slowed, but most developed countries have avoided expected recessions amid high inflation and rising interest rates. Although the labor market has proven resilient, a number of surveys suggest that consumer sentiment remains tough, having been hit hard by rising household bills and the prices of everyday goods.
