New Evidence from a National Survey and Focus Groups
Recent research from FINRA Foundation and the George Washington University Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) entitled Financial Anxiety and Stress Among U.S. Adults: New Evidence from a National Survey and Focus Groups showed that even before the pandemic hit, a large share of US adults were already stressed about their personal finances.
Researchers determined:
- The greatest levels of financial anxiety and stress were expressed by women, young adults, lower income workers, parents with a higher number of financially dependent children, the unmarried, and the unemployed.
- As the demographic groups listed above have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, it is likely that their financial struggles have worsened, along with their anxiety and stress levels, since March 2020.
- A lack of assets, high debt, and money management challenges were major contributing factors to high levels of financial anxiety and stress.
- Those who experienced financial anxiety and stress engaged in daily monitoring of their finances and made decisions informed by their financial worries. This could have implications for employers if employees are spending time monitoring their finances while at work.
The data also showed that financial anxiety and stress might have long-term effects. For example, financially anxious and stressed respondents were much less likely to plan for retirement. Financial literacy seems to matter: Even when controlling for other demographic factors, those who correctly answered three questions designed to measure basic financial literacy were less likely to feel financially anxious or stressed.
The FINRA Foundation and GFLEC partnered with Laura Scherler of United Way Worldwide and Ted Castle of Rhino Foods (an employer partner of United Way of Northwest Vermont’s Working Bridges program) to hold a webinar that discussed the research findings as well as the role of small and mid-sized employers in thinking about financial wellness benefits for their employees in new ways. Watch the webinar: