Federal Reserve: High inflation erodes financial security of American households, more and more people are struggling to make ends meet
Last summer, U.S. inflation hit a 40-plus-year high. (Data map)
Overseas Network, May 23 (Xinhua) According to a Reuters report on the 22nd, a survey released by the Federal Reserve on the same day showed that the record high inflation in the country has weakened the financial security of American families, and more and more Americans are living beyond their means. .
According to the survey, the share of U.S. households reporting that they are “financially OK” in 2022 has fallen by 5 percentage points, and the share of households saying they are doing worse has risen by 15 points to 35%, both figures for the first time since the Federal Reserve’s 2014 census. The highest level since the survey. Fifty-four percent of U.S. adults said their household budgets are affected “a lot” by rising prices, with parents raising children under 18, Black and Hispanic adults, and people with disabilities the most likely to be affected by inflation. Overall, one-third of households cite inflation as their main financial challenge, more than fourfold more than in 2016.
While strong demand for jobs has forced employers to raise salaries several times, the benefits of these wage increases have been offset by higher prices. Only 49% of U.S. households say they spend less than they earn each month, down from 55% in 2021. Nearly two-thirds of households said they were using fewer products or stopped using them entirely due to inflation. More than half of households report saving less.
The survey, based on detailed interviews with more than 11,000 U.S. households, will be conducted in October 2022. In the summer of that year, the U.S. inflation rate hit a 40-year high of 9.1%. In an attempt to bring down inflation, the Federal Reserve kept raising interest rates, causing several major U.S. regional banks to fail within weeks, plunging financial markets into crisis. (Hou Xingchuan from Overseas Network)
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