Many Americans Are Struggling to Afford Basic Necessities
44% of Americans had trouble paying for a basic necessity in the past year, with lower-income adults hit hardest.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Read our research on:
Personal Finances
All
Personal Finances
Publications
-
-
From cash to credit, how Americans’ payment methods have changed in the past decade
Since 2015, the share of Americans who say they use cash for all or almost all of their purchases in a typical week has fallen by half, from 24% to 12%.
-
Prediction markets’ trading volume doubled between May and July, largely driven by sports
Prediction market trading on Kalshi and Polymarket doubled from May to July, mostly due to a large uptick in sports trading.
-
Fewer Americans use cash today than a decade ago, but many still carry it
Today, 42% of U.S. adults say they don’t use cash for any purchases in a typical week. This is up from 24% in 2015.
-
What we know about the typical Polymarket user
The typical Polymarket user placed a total of 46 trades across 10 active trading days during our study period.
-
More than half of states restrict betting on elections
Lawmakers in at least 16 states have introduced legislation this year to regulate prediction markets in some way.
-
About 1 in 5 Americans have used crypto; Republicans’ use has ticked up
Some of the biggest demographic differences in cryptocurrency use are by gender, age and income.
-
Trading volume on prediction markets has soared in recent months
Prediction market trading volume has risen from under $5 billion monthly in mid 2025 to nearly $24 billion in April 2026, with sports dominating.
-
Americans are less likely than people in many other countries to see gambling as morally wrong
In many other surveyed countries, about half of adults or more see gambling as immoral. This includes 89% in Indonesia, 83% in India and 71% in Italy.
-
Are Baby Boomers wealthier than previous generations of older adults?
In 2022, all Boomer households combined owned $77 trillion in wealth. The top 10% of Boomer households held 71% of that total wealth.
