Yahoo Finance People in the US Are Stressed About Their Finances — What About Other Countries?
Money might not look the same in different countries, but its impact is the same pretty much everywhere. No matter where you live, money can solve a lot of problems when you have it and leave you stressed out when you don’t.
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A recent survey from CNBC/SurveyMonkey found that 70% of Americans feel “very or somewhat stressed” about their personal finances right now. More than half (52%) said their financial stress has increased since before March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused massive job losses and economic uncertainty.
People in other countries are not quite as stressed about money as the average American, but it’s still pretty close. SurveyMonkey found that at least half of adults globally stress over personal finances, with inflation named as the top financial stressor. The survey was conducted in March and included participants in the U.S., Mexico, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Singapore, France, and Australia.
Nearly two-thirds of adults in the U.S. (65%) cite rising prices as a contributing factor in financial stress, according to the survey. Other countries high on the list include Australia (62%), France (62%), and Germany (66%), while there is slightly less stress over inflation in Singapore (46%), Mexico (56%), the UK (51%), Spain (55%) and Switzerland (48%).
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While seven in 10 adults in the U.S. say they are “very or somewhat stressed” about their personal finances, Americans are not alone in this regard. Similar percentages were reported in Mexico (73%), Australia (70%), and Spain (72%). In contrast, less than half (49%) of adults in Singapore report the same level of stress. Here are some other highlights from the SurveyMonkey poll:
63% of adults in the UK say they are stressed about their personal finances.
More than half of adults in Germany (57%) and Switzerland (55%) are stressed about their personal finances.
France has the lowest percentage of adults reporting financial stress, with less than half (48%) saying they are ‘very or somewhat stressed.’
In terms of how finances have been progressing, nearly half of adults in Mexico (47%) and Singapore (49%) say their financial situation is better off now than five years ago. That’s almost twice the number who said they are worse off. But in most other countries, finances have gone in the other direction.
About half of adults in Australia (51%), Germany (51%) and the UK (51%) say their financial situation is worse off now than five years ago. Slightly less than half of adults in the U.S. (45%), France (42%), and Switzerland (44%) say the same thing.
In addition to inflation, other common financial stressors worldwide include the following, according to SoFi:
High credit card debt
Spending more than you earn
Insufficient retirement savings
Not having an emergency fund
Strong economic growth can go a long way toward easing financial stress because it usually means more and better-paying jobs. But much of the world is not optimistic about their country’s economic prospects.
Nearly two-thirds of adults in the UK (63%), Spain (64%), France (62%) and Germany (66%) are “very or somewhat pessimistic” about their country’s economic prospects, according to SurveyMonkey. Adults in the U.S. are fairly split on the topic, with 49% optimistic and 51% pessimistic.
On a brighter note, the majority of adults in Mexico (74%) and Singapore (79%) are “very or somewhat optimistic” about where their country’s economy is heading. Most adults in Switzerland feel the same way, with 57% of respondents there expressing optimism about the future.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: People in the US Are Stressed About Their Finances — What About Other Countries?
