Ian Patrick, FISM News

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Increased prices for groceries, energy, and other consumer products are weighing down the wallets of everyday Americans.

According to a February poll conducted by Fox News, 57% of Americans said they have less money in their pockets compared to one year ago. Another 31% said they have the same amount of money while only 12% said they have more money than the year prior.

For those who reported less money, Fox News writes that the most affected demographics include “Republican women (78% less money now), rural Whites (69%), Gen Xers (63%), and voters with annual income below $50,000 (62%).”

Additionally, 78% of respondents said the economy is only in “fair” or “poor” condition. Fox News notes this is “mostly unchanged” from a similar study done in 2022.

This poll also breaks down the same question of money in consumers’ pockets from years prior.

For instance, in 2022 50% of respondents said they had less cash than at the same time in 2021. In that same year, 36% said they had the same amount as in 2021 and 14% said they had more.

Most surprisingly, the data shows responses to the same question when respondents were asked in 2018 — after one whole year of the Trump administration. In 2018, 29% of respondents said they had more money than in 2017. Another 42% said they had the same amount of money, and 28% said they had less.

Such comparisons help highlight the impact that the current economic climate is having on everyday Americans.

Another such comparison came out of Gallup, whose early February polling showed that 50% of Americans in 2023 were worse off than in 2022. While Gallup’s poll presents a less harsh number than the Fox poll, it points out a harrowing reality.

“Since Gallup first asked this question in 1976, it has been rare for half or more of Americans to say they are worse off,” Gallup writes. “The only other times this occurred was during the Great Recession era in 2008 and 2009.”

Like Fox News, Gallup says financial deterioration hit lower-income Americans the most.