Pandemic Problems: What’s Keeping Adults Up at Night?
Younger Generations Worry About Jobs, Older Generations About Cost Increases
Three in four U.S. adults are worried about the rising price of groceries (75%) and the increasing cost of living (74%), which they see continuing over the next year as the nation navigates the pandemic’s impact on the economy and daily life, according to the latest American Staffing Association Workforce Monitor® online survey conducted by The Harris Poll.
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Top 5 Reasons U.S. Adults Are Worried
1. Rising price of groceries (75%)
2. Overall cost of living rising (74%)
3. Stock market ups and downs (65%)
4. Retirement funds losing money (65%)
5. Stay-at-home orders in event of Covid-19 resurgence (63%)
Nearly two-thirds are also concerned about stock market ups and downs (65%), their retirement funds losing money (65%), or reinstatement of stay-at-home orders in the event of a Covid-19 resurgence (63%) in the next year.
Those who have been laid off, furloughed, or given zero-hour schedules have even greater economic worries over the next year than their peers who were not. Among the starkest differences in apprehension between these two groups are paying for childcare (63% vs. 28%), paying for student loans (64% vs. 34%), and permanently losing their jobs (65% vs. 34%).
While all generations are worried on some level about the rising price of groceries and an increase in the overall cost of living, younger generations are more likely to have concerns about finding a job or needing new skills to land a job.
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|
Types of Financial Worries |
Gen Z 18‒23 |
Millennials 24‒39 |
Gen X 40‒55 |
Baby Boomers 56‒74 |
|
Rising cost of groceries |
67% |
74% |
77% |
78% |
|
Cost of living rising |
66% |
76% |
75% |
75% |
|
Finding a job |
67% |
63% |
54% |
31% |
|
Needing new skills to land a job |
64% |
60% |
52% |
30% |
“During this time of great economic uncertainty, people across the U.S. are feeling the rising financial heat as the nation continues to battle Covid-19,” said Richard Wahlquist, ASA president and chief executive officer. “Staffing agencies are continuing to hire across the U.S. and offer work opportunities for people whose jobs were displaced due to the pandemic or who want an additional source of income to help alleviate some of the financial worries keeping them up at night.”
Method
The Harris Poll conducted the survey online within the U.S. on behalf of ASA, June 16–18, 2020, among a total of 2,065 U.S. adults age 18 and older. Results were weighted on age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, household income, marital status, household size, and geographic region where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the U.S. population. In addition, the data were adjusted for differences between the online and offline populations.
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