Research conducted by CNBC and Acorns in partnership with Momentive finds that most Americans say they are under more financial stress now than a year ago
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. and SAN MATEO, CA, April 5, 2022 – CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, and Acorns, the country’s fastest growing financial wellness system, today announced the results of the
According to the findings, the vast majority of those surveyed (81%) say the U.S. economy will likely experience a recession in 2022 as 76% say they worry that higher prices will force them to rethink their financial choices in the coming months.
As a result of inflation pressures, almost half (48%) of adults surveyed say they think about rising prices “all the time”, while 44% say they think about rising prices “sometimes” or “occasionally”. Only a few of those surveyed say they “rarely” or “never” think of rising prices. Additionally, just over half (52%) of adults say they are under more financial stress now than a year ago. Nearly a third (32%) of lower income Americans who say they are under “much more” financial stress now compared to a year ago.
Additional findings from the CNBC + Acorns Invest in You: The Great Squeeze Survey include:
To help combat higher prices, most Americans have started to cut back.
- 53% of those surveyed say higher prices have already caused them to dine out less often in the last six months. 39% say they have been driving less and 35% say they have canceled a monthly subscription.
- In the event higher prices continue, 52% say they’ll cut back on dining out, 42% will cut back on driving, and 40% say they’ll have to think about canceling a vacation.
- 21% of adults say gas prices have caused them the most financial stress over the last year followed by housing costs (16%) and food costs (13%).
The vast majority (83%) of parents with children under 18 say parents are most responsible for teaching children about finance.
- But 31% of parents say they “never” talk to their children about household finances
- 40% of parents say they talk to their kids about money on a monthly basis or less
- Black parents were almost twice as likely than white parents to say they talk to their kids about household finances on a weekly basis (21% of Black parents vs. 12% of white parents.)
“The public health crisis may be receding, but the financial hits keep coming for Americans still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jon Cohen, Chief Research Officer at Momentive. “The pressures of skyrocketing costs at the pump and elsewhere are causing deepening stress, and the sense of foreboding about a future downturn is now widespread.”
CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent Sharon Epperson will reveal the results of the Invest in You: The Great Squeeze Survey today, Tuesday, April 5th, throughout CNBC’s Business Day programming. For more information on the survey including the full results and methodology go to: https://www.momentive.ai/en/blog/cnbc-financial-literacy-2022/.
Additionally, CNBC will create a special edition of the
Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns.
Methodology:
This Momentive online poll was conducted March 23-24, 2022 among a national sample of 3,953 adults. Respondents for this survey were selected from the more than 2 million people who take surveys on the Momentive platform each day. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 2 percentage points. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States age 18 and over.
