1 in 3 Americans Claim Their Financial Stability Has Declined — What This Means for You
Written by
T. Woods
Edited by
Molly Sullivan
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It’s no secret that 2025 has been a year of economic tumult and unpredictability. Tariffs, weakening employment numbers and high interest rates have all contributed to a rollercoaster ride of a year in which financial uncertainty seems to be the only guarantee. As a result, a number of Americans feel their finances have become less stable.
That’s what a new Yahoo Finance/Marist Poll survey discovered in August, after polling 2,575 Americans. The results indicated that many Americans believe a challenging financial future awaits them. In fact, while a slight majority of Americans polled (55%) consider the cost of living in their area to be affordable, 45% disagree, while one in three (or 33%) feel that their family finances have only gotten worse in the past year.
The American Income Gap Is Growing
What do these numbers indicate for you? First, the polling indicates a widening income gap in America — 47% of households that make under $50,000 reported that their finances are getting increasingly worse, as compared to the 27% of high earners who feel the same way. Even further, 30% of those polled who earn less than $50,000 annually stated complete dissatisfaction with their earnings, compared to the 9% of those with higher incomes who felt the same way. The poor say they’re getting poorer, while the rich acknowledge they’re getting richer.
Financial Instability Is Increasing for Older Generations Over Younger Ones
Additionally, the numbers indicated that financial health for baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) and Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1980) is on the decline when compared to millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) and Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012). The older generations — 35% of boomers and 39% of Gen X — were more likely to report that their family finances have gotten worse in 2025 than millennials and Gen Z (29%, respectively). Moreover, more members of Gen Z (12%) and millennials (16%) expressed complete satisfaction with their savings than boomers (6%) and Gen X (8%).
It’s worth noting that the younger generations may be less sensitive to further destabilization by already subsisting on rocky financial ground, whereas older ones are starting to feel the sting of inflation and market volatility on their savings and retirement investments. Overall, though, the polling indicated trends of declining financial satisfaction and safety, but those trends are moving faster among those in lower income brackets, or older age groups.
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