Healthcare, Need for More Money Top Personal Financial Problems

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A recent Gallup economic poll finds healthcare costs cited as one of the most important financial problems facing American families today. But lack of money in general is the dominant concern of respondents. Overall, 14% of Americans mention healthcare costs, while 13% mention not having enough money to pay their debts, 12% say lack of money or wages in general, and 8% say the high cost of living.

Not counting healthcare costs, a combined total of 31% of Americans mention something about the high cost of living compared with the amount of money they have or earn as the most important problem for their families.

Unemployment/loss of jobs and college expenses are each mentioned by 8%.

What is the most important financial problem facing your family today? [OPEN-ENDED]

There are some variations in these problems by age and income.

• Older people are much more likely to mention healthcare costs than are younger people (8% of people under 30 cite healthcare costs, compared with 18% of people 50 and older).

• Younger people are much more likely to mention a lack of money to pay debts (18% of people under 30) than are older people (5% of people 65 and older).

• The more income people have, the more likely they are to mention college expenses as the most serious problem -- 2% of people earning under $20,000 a year compared with 17% who earn $100,000 a year or more. It is likely that for many lower-income people, college expenses are not a problem because they don't expect to send their children to college. Their more pressing concerns are daily expenses or because they are older (many senior citizens have relatively low incomes).

• This interpretation is partly supported by the fact that just 3% of people with a high school degree or less say college expenses are the most important problem, compared with 11% among people who have graduated from college.

• With the combined categories of not enough money to pay debts/high cost of living, the disparity between lower- and higher-income people is more evident: 28% of people earning less than $20,000 mention at least one of these two items, compared with 14% of people earning $100,000 a year or more.

When asked to look beyond their personal problems and describe what they feel is the nation's most important economic problem, more Americans (20%) identify unemployment/jobs than any other item, while the war in Iraq comes in second, mentioned by 12%, followed by Social Security at 11%, healthcare at 10%, and the budget deficit at 8%. (These results should not be confused with Gallup's monthly question on "the most important problem" in the country, as this question specifically focuses on the most important economic problem.)

What is the most important economic problem facing the country today? [OPEN-ENDED]

Again, there are some differences among demographic subgroups.

• Nonwhites are more likely than whites to cite unemployment/jobs as the most important problem (28% and 17%, respectively).

• The cost of the war in Iraq is cited by 7% of Republicans, but 16% of Democrats.

• Social Security is much more likely to be mentioned by whites (13%) than nonwhites (5%).

• Women are almost twice as likely to mention healthcare (13%) as are men (7%).

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,005 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Jan. 17-19, 2005. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.