LendingClub Corporation (NYSE: LC), the parent company of LendingClub Bank, America’s leading digital marketplace bank, today released findings from the 18th edition of the Reality Check: Paycheck-to-Paycheck research series, conducted in partnership with PYMNTS. The Economic Outlook and Sentiment Edition examines U.S. consumers’ expectations for 2023 and how ongoing inflation and economic uncertainty will impact their spending.
Today’s Paycheck-to-Paycheck Landscape
Sixty-four percent of U.S. consumers (166 million) were living paycheck to paycheck in December 2022, up 3 percentage points from 61% the year prior, with the most growth seen in higher income brackets. In fact, 9.3 million more consumers are now living paycheck to paycheck, and eight million, or 86%, of those consumers earn more than $100,000 annually.
In December 2022, 51% of consumers earning more than $100,000 annually said they lived paycheck to paycheck, up 9 percentage points from 42% in December 2021. In contrast, the shares of middle-income consumers (those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 annually) and low-income consumers (those earning less than $50,000 annually) have remained relatively constant over the same period — sitting at 66% and 78%, respectively, as of December 2022.
The data also finds that an increasing number of consumers earning more than $100,000 are living paycheck to paycheck with difficulty paying their monthly bills. In December 2022, 16% of these high-income paycheck-to-paycheck consumers struggled to pay their monthly bills, up from 11% in December 2021.
“The effects of inflation are eating into every American’s wallet and as the Fed’s efforts to curb inflation drive up the cost of debt, we are seeing near record numbers of Americans living paycheck to paycheck,” said Anuj Nayar, financial health officer at LendingClub. “While the number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck is close to the height we saw in the middle of the…
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