Four in ten adults — including more than half of millennials — say they have cried about money in the past year, according to new survey data from LendingTree.
Over the last 12 months, Americans have had to find ways to make adjustments to grapple with 40-year-high inflation and soaring gas prices.
The consumers most likely to have cried over finances include those who are unemployed and looking for work (59 percent), parents with children under the age of 18 (53 percent), millennials (53 percent), and women (52 percent).
Data also reveal that 94 percent of those who wept over their finances cried at least twice, if not more often.
"I'm not surprised so many people have cried over money recently,” said Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s Chief Credit Analyst. “For many Americans, the extra financial cushion they built in the early days of the pandemic has been whittled away to nothing by rampant inflation and other financial headwinds that are largely out of their control.”
The top five reasons that respondents gave for why they cried over money in the last year were: not being able to afford things their family wants or needs, inflation, debt, not being able to afford the same things as family members or friends, and not being able to afford their rent or mortgage.
Schulz said that people are “feeling helpless and scared, especially when they think there’s no end in sight.”
“When that happens, the tears tend to flow, and that’s what many Americans are experiencing today,” he added.
LendingTree’s survey shows that women are far more likely to say they’ve cried over finances, and millenians are more likely than other age groups, with 41 percent saying they expect to cry again soon.
Some tears, however, were tears of joy. Roughly 10 percent of those who reported that they’ve cried over money say they did so happily after paying off debt, receiving a financial gift, or locking down a new job.
LendingTree recommended several steps for households to take to have greater control over their finances, including: creating a budget, selling household items for cash, and relieving stress by exercising, meditating, journaling, or reading.
The online survey of 1,598 U.S. consumers aged 18 to 76 was conducted between July 8 and July 15 of this year.
