Financial Well-Being Falls From a Year Ago

By
Terry Lane
Terry Lane
Full Bio
Terry has 25 years experience in journalism and communications, reporting on a range of topics that include personal finance, telecommunications, Congress, government regulations, and criminal justice. He has also worked on technology, energy, and environmental policy issues as a congressional press secretary and owned and published a local community newspaper in North Carolina.
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Published April 19, 2023
Woman looking worried holding paperwork at home. She is reading a financial bill or a letter with bad news. She looks very stressed and upset. There is a laptop computer on the table.

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Key Takeaways

  • According to a survey by Morning Call, consumers feel more negative about their financial well-being in 2023 than they did in 2022.
  • Concerns about a credit crunch following the recent turmoil in the banking sector and persistent inflation contributed to the more negative outlook.
  • Financial well-being scores dropped for every generational group except for millennials.

With concerns about a credit crunch in the wake of recent bank collapses adding to worries about persistent inflation, consumers are feeling worse about their financial well-being than they did a year ago, a survey by Morning Consult showed.

Overall, the financial well-being score of U.S. adults surveyed fell 0.27 points in February 2023 compared with 2022, dropping down to a reading of 49.34. While scores for earners making more than $100,000 were higher than those making less, higher-income respondents also had a larger yearly decline in their score, falling 2.45 points since last February to hit 57.07. The financial well-being score for those making less than $100,000 dropped 0.59 points to 51.31, while the score for those earning less than $50,000 dropped 0.86 points to 45.38.

The steeper decline for higher-income respondents came later than lower and middle-income earners, who may have experienced the impact of 2022's inflation surge earlier due to having smaller savings accounts, according to Morning Consult. Those making more than $100,000 per year were also the most likely to say that they have taken steps to prepare for an economic downtown.

Financial well-being scores fell for every generational group but one, as the score for millennials increased by 0.56 points from 2022. However, the study showed that millennials had more debt, especially medical debt and car loans, than other age groups.

Chart showing annual change in financial well-being, broken down by income group, for February 2022 through February 2023

Morning Consult
Article Sources
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  1. Morning Consult. "Consumers Face Worsening Financial Well-Being Following a Year of Inflation, Nagging Debt."

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