Survey results published by the Federal Reserve (Fed) have revealed that nearly one in five American adults, 18 percent, cannot afford even a $100 emergency expense from savings.
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The most recent Fed survey, which collected data on American economic well-being in 2023, found that a staggering number of American adults do not have enough savings to cover even minor emergency expenses, with many others unable to meet a $500 unexpected expense.
According to the 2020 census, roughly 78 percent of the U.S. population was over 18; if that percentage is applied to the total population of the country, there are roughly 266,554,220 adults living in the country, meaning that around 47,979,759 have less than $100 available in an emergency.
Using the same data, which shows that 14 percent who could meet a $100 expense would be unable to pay $500; 85,297,350 American adults, 32 percent, would be unable to meet a $500 expense out-of-pocket.
The Fed found that, although a staggering number could not meet many emergency expenses, the largest segment, 48 percent, said that they could meet an emergency expense of $2,000 or more.
Some of the adults unable to meet emergency expenses from savings were able to meet them some other way, such as borrowing from relatives, or placing them on a credit card, to be paid for later.
Out of adults unable to meet a $400 expense, the Fed found that 14 percent would be completely unable to pay for the emergency, even using a credit card or with borrowed money.
The percentage of people who would cover a $400 emergency expense using savings was, according to the Fed, 63 percent, suggesting that some of the people able to meet the expense with cash would nonetheless choose to do so through some other means.
That percentage is unchanged from the 2022 number, but represents a significant drop from 2021’s 68 percent.
Interestingly, the number remains significantly higher than most of the 2010s, where the percentage dropped to 50 percent, and did not rise above 63 percent.
The survey overall showed many other negative aspects of the current economy.
The Fed asked the 11,488 respondents whether, in the month prior to the survey, they had spent more than their income.
More than half of respondents had spent more than their monthly income in the prior month, a bad sign for Americans’ financial well-being if the majority are consistently outspending their income.
2023 also saw a two percent increase in the number of adults using “buy-now-pay-later,” programs since last year, showing that more Americans are choosing not to pay up front for items. In recent years, Amazon and other major sellers have given customers the option to buy even smaller items using monthly payments instead of up-front payments.
Despite the data emerging from the Fed itself, liberal officials and media have continually tried to convince Americans, many struggling with inflation, and rising housing costs, millions of whom can’t afford a $100 expense, that the economy is booming.
Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, recently tried to tell American’s that they are living in a booming economy.
“All I can tell you is what the data shows (sic), which is, we’ve got an economy that’s growing at a solid pace, we’ve got a very strong labor market, with unemployment at four percent,” said Powell.
“Inflation has come down really significantly, and we’re doing everything we can to bring that inflationary episode fully to a halt and fully restore price stability, we’re confident that we’ll get there,” he said.
Powell couldn’t say why people are unhappy with the current economy despite the positive data peddled by liberal politicians.
On Monday, the liberal media outlet The Atlantic published an opinion piece which claimed that the U.S. economy is at the top of its game, comparing its current state to Taylor Swift at the peak of her career.
“The growth rate is high, the unemployment rate is at historic lows, household wealth is surging, and wages are rising faster than costs, especially for the working class. There are many ways to define a good economy. America is in tremendous shape according to just about any of them,” said the Atlantic.
The Atlantic also struggled to understand why Americans believe that they are suffering economically.
Economic DISASTER is facing tens of millions of Americans – all it takes is one unexpected car repair, and they could be homeless within a couple months. BIDEN and his disgusting crew need to GO!
The Atlantic is not living in the same universe as everyone else. Wages are not outpacing inflation. It is just the opposite. There may be job growth but they are all low paying service sector jobs and many are part-time with no benefits.
The stock market has finally returned to the levels it was when President Trump was in office. The problem is is that my retirement account will only buy 60-70 percent of what it could buy 4 years ago.
The mainstream news media habitually misleads its smooth-brained audience about the present day economy by ignoring personal debt trends, the effect of inflation on all aspects (including the major indices… a 17% drop in the USD’s value raises stock prices). Yahoo Finance regularly publishes politically driven “financial advise” that has absolutely no basis in fact.
As a Senator Joe Biden helped make Delaware the credit card capitol of the US. Hunter Biden was paid an undisclosed amount of money by MBNA as a “consultant”.
The problem with Biden’s corruption is that it affects all aspects of life in America – literally from cradle to grave.
Joe and Oboma pusher the Oboma Care and see how screwed up. If the Demo. would keep their hands off health care would be fine.
Vote for leftist dems, oops I didn’t mean to repeat myself, and this is what you will get, every time.
Bidenomics is Badenomics.
Or, if you prefer, Buydenomics, where Joey buys votes by spending our money on others in ways we don’t support.
31+ trillion dollars in debt, I do not think the federal government could afford a $100 emergency either if it were not borrowing a trillion dollars every 100 days.
National debt is almost thirty five trillion now. it prob will be 40T by November.
apparently they’ll need at least twice that to pay for the increase in electricity rates, not to mention the mills family leave law allowing the governor to reach into your pocket to grab 1% of your paycheck. doesn’t sound like much until you realize it is 2 1/2 days pay. but then it’s for your own good and you don’t really need it anyway