It should come as no surprise that the majority of American adults are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a new report from LendingClub. The report shows that as of October, a whopping 60% of adults in the United States are living paycheck to paycheck.
"One month before the start of the holiday season, 60% of consumers lived paycheck to paycheck, with 19% struggling to pay their monthly bills. This also includes 42% of high-income and 76% of low-income consumers,” LendingClub explains in its report.
"These shares are virtually unchanged from last year, indicating that consumers have adjusted to the current economic environment,” the report continues. "Overall, 4 in 10 consumers consider themselves worse off relative to 2022, while 62% are very or extremely concerned about the economic outlook and 58% are still seeing inflation exceed growth in their paychecks."
Naturally, consumers have lowered their expectations ahead of the 2023 holiday season. According to the report, “The share of consumers planning to make holiday purchases is slightly down compared to a year ago, and several indicators point toward a more conservative stance on spending this year due to the change in economic conditions."
A mere 20% of shoppers expect to spend more this year than last year, and higher prices are, of course, the reason for this year's spending trends. "Decreased spending capacity is the element consumers are most likely to cite as the chief deterrent of spending this holiday season, at 60%."
In the hopes of maintaining expectations for the holiday season, more than a third of consumers report they intend to tap into their savings to help cover the costs of their holiday purchases. Of those who live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to pay bills, 27.5% report they’ll use most if not all of their savings.
Ouch.
This sounds nothing like the economy that Joe Biden claims we’re experiencing, but this is what Bidenomics really is. Imagine spending the past year or so listening to Joe Biden insist that the economy is the best ever, that inflation is going down, and that wages are going up.
Biden was so confident that saying this over and over again and branding the economy “Bidenomics” would actually convince the American public that he is some economic superhero. I suspect that assuming Biden loses next year, experts will look at his ownership of the economy as the moment he lost the election.
For months now, we’ve seen multiple polls showing that Americans don’t think the economy is strong, and they blame Joe Biden for it. The holiday shopping season is when many people will feel the pain of Bidenomics the most, but Biden continues to lecture the public about how they should perceive the economy. I suspect it was easier for Ebenezer Scrooge and the Grinch to have their epiphanies about Christmas than it will be for Joe Biden to have an epiphany about what Bidenomics really means for the people.
