High inflation is stressing U.S. households out, survey finds

WASHINGTON Reuters - High inflation has made it harder to pay bills, roiled retirement plans, and led people to curb travel and watch the thermostat.

According to the household survey data released by the U.S. Census, it is also freaking them out in a broad and often intense way.

According to the latest version of the Census' Household Pulse survey, 65% of U.S. adults found rising prices to be very or moderately stressful.

Hispanic and Black adults were slightly higher for stress over rising prices. It was lower among those with a college degree, at about 54%, and perhaps not surprisingly varied by income. More than 80% of those earning less than $50,000 per year found current inflation stressful; it was less than 38% for those earning more than $200,000.

The Census bureauCensus bureau began the Household Pulse survey early in the epidemic to try and track fast-changing health, social and economic trends in real time, with data collected and released with more frequency than its other population estimates. The questions have changed over time based on emerging trends like working from home.

In recent releases, there has been an increase in food insecurity as pandemic-era income support programs have lapsed, with the most recent survey showing 11.5% of adults living in households with barely enough food, up from a low of less than 8% in mid- 2021 when pandemic income support programs were still in place.

Since inflation began last year, the share of adults in households with it was somewhat or very difficult to meet usual expenses rose to 40% from around 26% in the middle of last year.

The latest survey, conducted from Sept. 14 to 26 and including responses from about 51,000 households, tried to drill in more deeply into how inflation was affecting the public's mood and behavior.

It is an issue of concern to the U.S. Federal Reserve as it tries to assess the financial resilience of households, and to elected officials competing in midterm elections.

The Census survey showed that spending patterns as well as psychology are taking a toll on consumer prices with overall consumer prices rising more than 8% annually as of August.

About 35% of adults said they had canceled a trip in the previous week because of the cost of gas, while about 20% said they had cut or eliminated spending for basic household necessities, such as medicine or food, in order to pay an energy bill.