Half of adults are stressed about personal finances, survey finds

At least half of adults in a range of major economies report being stressed about their personal finances, and say inflation is one of the main reasons.

A significant number also say they feel worse-off financially than their parents, and are pessimistic about their children’s financial futures, the International Your Money Financial Security Survey conducted by SurveyMonkey found.

In the U.S., Australia, Spain and Mexico, around 70% of adults said they were “very or somewhat stressed” about money. The percentage reduced slightly to 63% in the U.K., 57% in Germany, 55% in Switzerland, and roughly half of people in Singapore and France.

Across those countries, between a half and two thirds of people said they considered themselves to be part of the middle class — except in the U.K., where it was a lower 37%.

Yet despite the middle classes traditionally being considered financially comfortable, between 45% and 62% of those who put themselves in that group described themselves as “living paycheck to paycheck.”

Half of adults in Australia, Germany and the U.K. said they were worse off than they were five years ago.

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

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

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

“The health of the global economy, though muted in some areas, is not being reflected in the perceptions of the average person … Despite the performance of the economy writ large, roughly half of adults are stressed about 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 yet most developed economies have avoided the recessions that were forecast amid high inflation and interest rate hikes. Labor markets have proved resilient, but numerous surveys have suggested grim sentiment among consumers who have been hit hard by price rises in household bills and everyday goods.