Are families better off financially than a year ago? What Americans say in new poll

Conventional wisdom holds that Americans typically vote based on pocketbook issues. So — with the presidential election just two months away — what financial state are American families in?

It’s a mixed bag, according to new polling.

In the latest YouGov poll, a plurality of respondents, 43%, said their family is doing about the same financially as one year ago.

Over one-third, 35%, said they are worse off, while 17% said they’re better off and 4% said they weren’t sure.

The poll, conducted on Sept. 5, sampled 21,647 U.S. adults.

In-depth breakdown

When families were asked about changes in their finances, a significant divide emerged between certain demographic groups.

Predictably, Democrats painted a rosier picture of their finances than Republicans. Nineteen percent of Democrats said they were worse off, compared to 50% of Republicans who said the same.

This mirrors a broader partisan divide on the economy as a whole, with most Republicans saying it’s getting worse, compared to a sliver of Democrats, according to a January YouGov poll.

Interestingly, in the latest poll, men were also more likely to say they’re better off compared to women, 21% versus 14%. On the flip side, 38% of women said they were worse off, compared to 33% of men.

A noteworthy divide also appeared along racial lines. Twenty-six percent of Black respondents said their family was better off financially, while 16% of white and Hispanic respondents said the same.

Meanwhile, more than twice as many white respondents compared to Black respondents said they were worse off, 40% versus 19%.

And finally, responses were also skewed by age, with older respondents painting a bleaker picture of their finances than younger respondents.

One-quarter of 18-25-year-olds said they were better off, compared to 12% of those 65 and older. And in contrast, 16% of 18-29-year-olds said they were worse off, while 36% of those 65 and older said the same.

The poll comes as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have made reducing economic pressures on the middle class a core part of her campaigns.

This story was originally published September 6, 2024 at 1:10 PM with the headline "Are families better off financially than a year ago? What Americans say in new poll."