Even with pandemic-induced job losses on the rebound, the current economic environment has grown more complicated as the health crisis continues. While the United States economy seems to have stabilized, consumers who live paycheck to paycheck 
still find themselves in precarious financial situations. Inflation, which rose 7% in December 2021 from one year earlier, makes it increasingly difficult for many to make ends meet.
Recent PYMNTS research finds that 61% of consumers lived paycheck to paycheck in December 2021. Although this is four percentage points less than a year earlier, this share has risen from 54% in May 2021 and is now approaching pre-pandemic levels. In fact, the last two months of the year witnessed a sharp uptick in the number of consumers living paycheck to paycheck.
These are among the findings to emerge from New Reality Check: The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report, a PYMNTS and LendingClub collaboration. In the latest report, The Generational Divide Edition, we examine why consumers across different generations live paycheck to paycheck and what they see as the most prominent stressors on their finances. The report draws on insights from a survey of 3,070 U.S. consumers conducted from Dec. 2 to Dec. 14, 2021, as well as an analysis of other economic data.
More key findings from the study include:
Forty-two p
ercent of U.S. consumers annually earning more than $100,000 live paycheck to paycheck, up three percentage points from May 2021. Of consumers who reported earning less than $50,000 per year, 77% lived paycheck to paycheck in December 2021, up slightly from 72% in May 2021. Meanwhile, 66% of those who reported earning between $50,000 and $100,000 now live paycheck to paycheck — a notable rise from 53% in May 2021.
The number of baby boomers and seniors living paycheck to paycheck increased 14 percentage points from May 2021 to December 2021. A deep dive into the generational demographics of consumers currently living paycheck to paycheck indicates that millennials are the most likely to fall into the category. The greatest increase in consumers living paycheck to paycheck is among baby boomers and seniors. In December 2021, 54% of baby boomers and seniors lived paycheck to paycheck, a sharp increase from 40% in May 2021.
Savings levels are a key differentiator between those who live paycheck 
to paycheck and struggle to pay bills and those who do not struggle, and the gap widens with older generations. Generation Z consumers who live paycheck to paycheck and have issues paying their monthly bills report the lowest average savings at just $1,158. Millennials living paycheck to paycheck with issues paying their monthly bills report the highest savings, averaging $3,731.
To learn more about how the different generations of paycheck to paycheck consumers are faring in today’s changing economic times, download the report.