BOSTON–A new survey has found that while young consumers in the United States are doing all they can to stay afloat, they feel they are losing their sense of financial control.
The conclusion comes from “Generations Under Pressure: How Younger Consumers Are Coping With Higher Living Costs,” the February installment of the PYMNTS Intelligence Generational Pulse Report, which is based on a survey of 2,747 U.S. consumers conducted in early January. It found that cost pressures remain stubbornly high across essentials, such as groceries, housing and healthcare.
“Yet the real story goes beyond the headline that 51% of consumers said managing their daily living expenses is challenging,” PYMNTS said in releasing its findings. “The data showed how different generations are responding, and what that means for financial services providers. Young consumers are stacking coping strategies. Older consumers are pulling back. Across the board, confidence in those strategies is slipping.”
Key Data Points
According to PYMNTS, key data points from the report include:
- Managing daily living expenses is challenging for 51% of U.S. consumers, largely unchanged from October, underscoring how persistent cost pressures have become.
- When buying groceries, 89% of consumers reported financial, up from 84% in October, with double-digit increases among millennials and bridge millennials.
- The share of consumers who said their coping strategies are extremely or very effective fell to 25%, down from 34% just three months earlier.
Window into Shift
PYMTNS said its analysis shows food costs offer a window into the shift.
“Grocery stress is now nearly universal, but strain is no longer limited to essentials,” PYMNTS said. “Dining out and food delivery are also financial stress points for 47% of consumers, up four percentage points from October. That signals that food inflation is compressing budgets across the entire spectrum, not just at the checkout line.”
For the full report, go here.
