Newswise — Inflation rates may have cooled off recently, but a new poll shows many older adults are experiencing financial stress – especially those who say they’re in fair or poor physical health or mental health. Women and those age 50 to 64 are more likely than men or people over age 65 to report feeling a lot of stress related to their personal finances. So are people age 50 and older who say they’re in fair or poor physical or mental health.
In all, 47% of people age 50 and older said inflation had impacted them a great deal in the past year, and 52% said they had cut back on everyday expenses, according to the new findings from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging . People in their 50s and early 60s were more likely to say they had reduced spending than those over 65. In all, 58% of the younger group said they’ve cut back in the past year, versus 45% of those 65 and older.
The percentages reporting spending cutbacks were also higher among those who say they are in fair or poor physical health (69%) or mental health (76%), those with lower incomes (60%), and those who are Black (58%) or Hispanic (60%). And 16% of all adults 50 and over say they’ve had trouble in the past year paying for health-related costs, or have delayed or avoided getting health care because of cost. The poll is based at the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation , and supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine, U-M’s academic medical center.
The poll asked.
