Inflation is up, gas prices are stuck at over $4 per gallon, companies are slashing jobs as they invest in artificial intelligence and a record percentage of Americans believe their financial situation is getting worse.
Gallup poll results released Tuesday show that 55% of Americans say their financial situation is getting worse. That’s up from 47% in 2024 and 53% last year. Pulling back, Gallup said that this year marks the fifth consecutive year of more Americans saying that their financial outlook is worsening rather than improving.
“The only similar multiyear period when the larger share felt their financial situation was worsening was during the Great Recession,” Gallup said.
With the subprime mortgage crisis and rise and fall of the housing market came the Great Recession around 2008, according to Federal Reserve History. It noted that the U.S. economy “bottomed out” in 2009 but that the impact of the recession lasted for years after.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic and lingering high inflation. While it has come down from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, inflation for 12-month period ending this March was at 3.3% (higher than the Federal Reserve Bank’s 2% target) after rising 0.9%, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to the recent Gallup poll results, majorities of Americans worry about not having enough money for retirement (62%) and being unable to cover medical costs in the event of a serious accident or illness (60%). Audacy reported in March on other Gallup poll results that showed healthcare costs had become so expensive in the U.S. that millions of Americans are skipping meals to cover expenses.
“Slightly smaller majorities (54% each) worry about their investment returns and maintaining their standard of living,” Gallup said this week of Americans’ financial concerns. Additionally, nearly half (48%) are concerned about routine healthcare costs, 41% worry about paying their normal monthly bills and 40% about affording college, while fewer worry about housing costs (35%) or making minimum credit card payments (28%).
Still, Gallup said the biggest increases since 2021 include an 11-point rise in worry about making minimum credit card payments. There were also nine-point increases in concern about maintaining one’s standard of living and paying monthly bills.
Results show that Americans are more concerned now than they were in 2021 about eight out of nine potential points of economic concern. These include: minimum credit card payments; standard of living; paying monthly bills; costs for normal healthcare; costs for a serious illness or accident; paying for children’s college; rent, mortgage or other housing costs and retirement savings.
There was no change to concerns about the ninth, investment returns, since there was no data for that in 2021. However, worry about investment returns increased by 1% to 54% from 2025 to this year.
“Affordability continues to be the main financial challenge for U.S. households, with concerns about various costs far outpacing all other financial worries,” said Gallup.
For example, gas prices that have shot up 40% since Republican President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. had joined Israel to attack Iran, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). As the conflict drags on, the important oil route through the Strait of Hormuz remains functionally blocked despite a current ceasefire.
High gas prices can cause prices for other essentials – like food – to go up as well. Other polling results released this week by Reuters/Ipsos show that Trump’s approval rating is falling lower amid concerns about the war and the economy.
Affordability is not a "hoax," and it has to be more than a slogan.
— Congressman Greg Casar (@RepCasar) April 28, 2026
Democrats need to be more than an anti-Trump Party.
We need our own pro-working class agenda.
We're proud to announce @USProgressives's New Affordability Agenda -->https://t.co/2gvEHfIorN
Ahead of the midterm elections coming up in November, Democrats are taking the opportunity to address Americans’ concerns about affordability, a concept that Trump once called a “Democrat hoax.”
“Affordability is not a ‘hoax,’ and it has to be more than a slogan,” said Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) in a Tuesday X post announcing a new affordability agenda. “Democrats need to be more than an anti-Trump Party. We need our own pro-working class agenda.”
