摘要：Jeffrey M.Jones博士自2000年以来一直担任盖洛普高级编辑，负责盖洛普美国民意调查和其他公开发布调查的研究和分析。他对公众舆论和投票行为的研究发表在学术期刊和编辑书籍上。

李俊文：Inflation Still Top U.S. Financial Problem, but Fewer Cite It

Americans' concern about maintaining their standard of living remains elevated（通货膨胀仍然是美国金融问题的首要问题，但很少有人提及美国人对维持生活水平的担忧仍然很高）

作者介绍

Jeffrey M. Jones, Ph.D.（高级编辑、华盛顿特区）

Jeffrey M. Jones

Jeffrey M.Jones博士自2000年以来一直担任盖洛普高级编辑，负责盖洛普美国民意调查和其他公开发布调查的研究和分析。他对公众舆论和投票行为的研究发表在学术期刊和编辑书籍上。

Jeffrey M. Jones, Ph.D., has served as a Gallup Senior Editor since 2000, overseeing research and conducting analysis for Gallup's U.S. polling and other public release surveys. His research on public opinion and voting behavior has been published in academic journals and edited books.

正文一

华盛顿特区-近十分之三的美国人（29%）表示，通货膨胀或高昂的生活成本是他们家庭目前面临的最重要的财务问题，低于去年的41%和2023年的35%。

尽管如此，今天的读数远远超过了2021年通货膨胀开始飙升之前的水平，并且足以在盖洛普消费者财务压力年度指标中排名第一，自2022年以来每年都是如此。

盖洛普4月1日至14日的经济和个人理财调查发现，住房成本和资金短缺是仅次于通货膨胀的第二大财务挑战，12%的美国成年人分别提到了这两个问题。在回答这个开放式问题时，至少有5%的美国人提到了医疗保健成本（7%）、股票投资（6%）、税收（5%）和债务（5%）。

尽管通货膨胀仍然是首要问题，但提及通货膨胀的人数下降了12个百分点，这是自去年以来最大的变化。提及股票投资和资金短缺的百分比也上升了5个百分点。

民意调查发现，44%的美国人将他们的财务状况评为优秀或良好，37%的人评为“一般”，18%的人评价为差——与去年相比没有变化，但明显低于2021年初通货膨胀加剧之前57%的优秀/良好评级。与此同时，创纪录的53%的人表示他们的财务状况正在恶化，而38%的人表示情况正在好转。

这项民意调查是在特朗普政府于4月2日宣布对大多数美国贸易伙伴征收全面新关税后股市波动期间进行的。宣布后，市场立即暴跌，但在特朗普于4月9日暂停了许多关税90天后，股票价值有所回升。

通货膨胀是所有收入群体的首要财务问题

通货膨胀是所有收入水平的美国人最常提到的首要财务问题，但中等收入人群（38%）比低收入或高收入人群（分别为27%和24%）更常提到通货膨胀。住房成本是所有三个群体的首要问题之一，但缺乏资金或低工资使低收入人群的住房黯然失色。

股市投资和退休储蓄是高收入人群面临的首要问题，但中低收入人群则不然。

在所有收入群体中，通货膨胀作为最重要的家庭财务问题的提及率明显下降，但在高收入美国人中，这一比例不成比例，今年的24%比2024年下降了17个百分点。相比之下，在过去的一年里，中等收入的美国人下降了9个百分点，低收入的美国人则下降了6个百分点。

退休、严重医疗事件、生活水平让美国人担忧

调查中的另一个问题问美国人，他们对可能影响他们的九个财务困难中的每一个都有多担心。其中，美国人最有可能说他们担心没有足够的退休金（59%），没有足够的钱支付严重疾病或事故的医疗费用（59%）以及无法维持生活水平（57%）。此外，53%的人担心他们的投资没有获得良好的回报。

美国人不太担心没有足够的钱支付正常的医疗费用（45%），无法支付正常的每月账单（42%），也无法支付租金、抵押贷款或其他住房费用（38%）。

三分之一的美国人担心支付孩子的大学费用，这一数字因并非每个人都有问题而有所下降。在有18岁以下子女的成年人中，这一数字要高得多，为64%。

信用卡最低还款额也是一个低级别问题。

正如预期的那样，低收入美国人比中高收入美国人更担心这些财务挑战。低收入和高收入人群之间最大的担忧差距是支付正常的每月账单，71%的低收入人群和24%的高收入人群对此感到担忧。一个问题——投资回报——在三个收入群体中引发了类似程度的担忧。

近年来，人们对生活水平的担忧增加最多

与2019年（新冠肺炎大流行之前）和2021年（通胀开始飙升之前）相比，更多的美国人担心这些金融挑战，但自通胀放缓以来，过去两年几乎没有变化。这种模式的例外是担心没有足够的退休资金，这在过去两年中有所消退，可能与2023年和2024年的股票价值增长有关。

过去五年的经济冲击对美国人对能否维持生活水平的担忧影响最大，自2019年以来，生活水平提高了15个百分点。其中大部分增长发生在2021年至2023年期间，当时通货膨胀率攀升。目前，57%的人担心自己的生活水平，这与2011年大衰退后GDP增长缓慢、失业率高的时期记录的58%的高水平基本一致。

更多的美国人还担心没有足够的钱支付严重医疗情况下的医疗费用，也无法支付住房费用，自2019年以来，这两个数字都增加了8个百分点。

目前对这些问题的担忧程度略低于2011年或2012年的历史最高水平。

与2019年相比，所有收入水平的美国人现在都更担心这些财务问题，而且不同收入群体的增长幅度相当相似。然而，对于支付最低信用卡付款（主要限于中低收入成年人）和支付大学学费（对任何子群体来说都没有显示出有意义的变化）的担忧并没有增加。

含义

通货膨胀仍然是美国人最关心的财务问题。尽管价格上涨的峰值发生在近三年前，过去一年的通货膨胀率一直接近美联储2%的目标率，但情况确实如此。美国人可能仍然感受到近年来通货膨胀加剧的累积效应导致的物价上涨带来的压力，工资增长只是最近才跟上物价上涨的步伐。

因此，美国人担心一系列的财务问题，特别是能否维持他们的生活水平。展望未来，这些担忧是恶化还是减弱，可能在很大程度上取决于唐纳德·特朗普总统的经济政策对消费者价格、就业、工资和股票价值的影响。目前，美国人担心关税带来的通胀威胁，三分之二的人表示，特朗普对美国贸易伙伴征收的关税“很可能”会提高他们购买的产品的价格。

正文二

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly three in 10 Americans, 29%, say inflation or the high cost of living is the most important financial problem facing their family today, down from 41% last year and 35% in 2023.

Still, today’s reading far exceeds the levels measured before inflation began to spike in 2021, and is large enough to earn the top spot on Gallup’s annual measure of consumers’ financial stressors, as it has each year since 2022.

Gallup’s April 1-14 Economy and Personal Finance survey finds that housing costs and lack of money are the next-most-commonly mentioned financial challenges after inflation, each named by 12% of U.S. adults. Healthcare costs (7%), stock investments (6%), taxes (5%) and debt (5%) are each named by at least 5% of Americans in response to the open-ended question.

Though inflation remains the top issue by a wide margin, the 12-percentage-point drop in mentions of it is the biggest change since last year. There have also been five-point increases in the percentages mentioning stock investments and lack of money.

The poll finds 44% of Americans rating their financial situations as excellent or good, 37% as “only fair” and 18% as poor — unchanged from last year, but significantly worse than the 57% excellent/good rating from early 2021, before the period of higher inflation began. Meanwhile, a record-high 53% currently say their financial situation is getting worse, while 38% say it is getting better.

The poll was conducted during a period of stock market volatility after the Trump administration announced sweeping new tariffs on most U.S. trading partners on April 2. The market plunged in the immediate aftermath of the announcement, but stock values recovered somewhat after Trump on April 9 paused many of those tariffs for 90 days.

Inflation Top Financial Problem in All Income Groups

Inflation is most often named the top financial problem by Americans at all income levels, but middle-income people (38%) mention it more than do lower- or upper-income people (27% and 24%, respectively). Housing costs rank among the top issues for all three groups, but lack of money or low wages eclipses housing among lower-income people.

Stock market investments and retirement savings rank among the top problems for upper-income people but not for lower- and middle-income people.

Declines in mentions of inflation as the most important family financial problem are apparent among all income groups, but disproportionately so among upper-income Americans, with the 24% this year down 17 points from 2024. That compares with a nine-point drop among middle-income Americans and six points among lower-income Americans in the past year.

Retirement, Serious Medical Events, Standard of Living Worry Americans

A separate question in the survey asked Americans how much they worry about each of nine financial difficulties that could affect them. Of these, Americans are most likely to say they worry about not having enough for their retirement (59%), not having enough to pay medical costs for a serious illness or accident (59%) and not being able to maintain their standard of living (57%). Additionally, 53% are worried about not getting a good return on their investments.

Americans are less worried about not having enough to pay for normal healthcare costs (45%), not being able to pay their normal monthly bills (42%) and not being able to pay their rent, mortgage or other housing costs (38%).

One-third of all Americans worry about paying the cost of a child’s college, a figure dampened by the fact that it is not an issue for everyone. The figure is much higher, 64%, among adults who have children under age 18.

Making minimum credit card payments is also a low-ranking concern.

As would be expected, lower-income Americans worry more about these financial challenges than middle- and upper-income Americans do. The largest gap in worry between lower- and upper-income people is for paying normal monthly bills, something 71% of those with lower incomes and 24% of those with upper incomes worry about. One issue — investment returns — sparks similar levels of worry across the three income groups.

Standard of Living Worries Have Increased the Most in Recent Years

More Americans are worried about these financial challenges than were in 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2021 (before the surge in inflation began), but there has been little change in the past two years since inflation has moderated. The exception to this pattern is worry about not having enough for retirement, which has subsided over the past two years, perhaps tied to stock value gains in 2023 and 2024.

The economic shocks of the past five years have had the most effect on Americans’ worry about being able to maintain their standard of living, which is up 15 points since 2019. Most of that increase occurred between 2021 and 2023, after inflation climbed. The 57% currently worried about their standard of living essentially matches the high of 58% recorded in 2011 during a period of slow GDP growth and high unemployment after the Great Recession.

Significantly more Americans also worry about not having enough money to pay medical costs for a serious medical situation and not being able to pay housing costs, with eight-point increases in each since 2019.

Current levels of worry for most of these issues are just below their record highs, generally registered in 2011 or 2012.

Americans at all income levels are more worried now about these financial matters than were in 2019, and the sizes of the increases have been fairly similar across income subgroups. That, however, is not the case for increased worry about making minimum credit card payments, which is largely confined to middle- and lower-income adults, and paying for college, which has not shown meaningful change for any subgroup.

Implications

Inflation continues to be a top-of-mind financial concern for Americans. This is the case even though the peak in price increases happened nearly three years ago, and inflation rates have been near the Federal Reserve’s 2% target rate over the past year. Americans are likely still feeling the pinch from higher prices resulting from the cumulative effects of elevated inflation in recent years, with wage growth only more recently keeping up with price increases.

Consequently, Americans worry about a range of financial matters, particularly in being able to maintain their standard of living. Going forward, whether these concerns worsen or abate will likely depend heavily on the effect that President Donald Trump’s economic policies have on consumer prices, employment, wages and stock values. For now, Americans are worried about the threat of inflation from tariffs, with two-thirds saying Trump’s tariffson U.S. trading partners are “very likely” to increase prices on the products they buy.

来源：非 常道