76%的美国人将生活成本问题列为他们最大的经济难题
2026年5月12日 美国东部时间5:00 / CNN
作者：珍妮弗·阿吉埃斯塔、安妮特·崔、阿里尔·爱德华兹-莱维、爱德华·吴、戴维·戈德曼
CNN
“活着的成本越来越高了。”
“你只是在勉强维持生计，而非蒸蒸日上。”
“本不该是这样的。”
这些来自一项全新CNN民调的回应，道出了美国人对经济的感受：他们只是深陷困境，动弹不得。
CNN由SSRS开展的这项民调发现，将高物价和生活成本视为家庭面临的头号经济难题的人数大幅攀升。绝大多数人对整体经济持悲观态度——近7成受访者认为未来一年内很可能发生经济衰退——同时也对自己支付账单和购买商品的能力缺乏信心。
这些对经济的负面情绪将对中期选举产生重大政治影响，反映出美国人日常生活中在经济、代际和党派层面都承受着压力。许多人正在缩减购物清单，削减非必要开支，几乎没有人能轻松储蓄。
美国人普遍感受到经济不确定性和不稳定性
美国日益扩大的贫富差距曾让整体经济免受衰退冲击。剔除汽油价格和通胀因素后，消费者在伊朗战争爆发后的第一个月仍在增加支出。部分原因在于近三年来，每个月的工资增长都跑赢了通胀——但随着通胀预期上升，这一势头可能在4月被打破。
但平均数据并不能说明全部问题：美国银行的数据显示，中低收入美国人的工资在去年就已不再跑赢通胀。
这让许多美国人对自身财务前景感到不满。
在CNN的民调中，公众对经济的负面看法已经持续了五年。几乎所有人都认为，当前经济环境下储蓄比大手笔消费更明智：88%的人持此观点，包括不同收入阶层中超过8成的受访者。
对经济的负面看法在新冠疫情后迅速抬头，主要原因是物价大幅上涨和房地产市场冻结。尽管近年来通胀有所回落，就业增长仍出人意料地强劲，消费者支出也保持旺盛，但人们尚未适应高物价。许多人觉得自己被高得离谱的房地产市场拒之门外。
生活成本是全民共同的主要担忧
在开放式问题中，来自各个阶层的美国人都将生活成本列为他们最主要的财务担忧。
对食品和汽油价格的担忧尤为突出，明确将汽油价格列为问题的受访者比例从一年前的5%跃升至如今的23%。
约三分之一的美国人表示，他们一直或大部分时间都在担心收入不足以支付开支，另有42%的人表示至少有时会有这种担忧。
大多数人表示，他们无法轻松负担外出享用一顿大餐或度假这类非必要开支，仅有约三分之一的人觉得自己能轻松拿出1000美元应急，或是为未来储蓄。
几乎没人相信经济体系能为普通美国人服务
四分之三的美国人表示，经济体系不公平地偏袒强势利益集团，如今不到一半的人认为，只要愿意努力工作，大多数想要出人头地的人都能成功。
约一半的美国人对自己的财务状况不满意，更多人认为自己的财务状况在过去一年中恶化，而非改善。
三分之二的美国劳动者表示，他们的工资跟不上不断上涨的物价。这一情况在不同教育程度、收入阶层的人群中均占多数，无论人们是在办公室、工厂还是户外工地工作。即使是家庭年收入15万美元及以上的劳动者，也有57%表示自己的工资跟不上物价上涨。
约四分之三的美国人表示，如今比上一代人更难出人头地，同样比例的人认为下一代人会更难实现这一点。
一位参与调查的印第安纳州民众表示：“我们赚着有史以来最多的钱，但由于物价持续上涨，我们的财务自由却降到了历史最低点。”
调查方法说明：
CNN民调由SSRS于4月30日至5月4日开展，从基于概率抽样的全国样本中随机抽取1499名美国成年人作为调查对象。调查通过线上或电话由真人访员进行。本次图表显示的结果抽样误差范围最高为±2.8个百分点。
CNN的科科·中岛为本报道撰稿。
‘My life is not affordable. No one cares’
76% of Americans call cost-of-living issues their biggest economic problem
May 12, 2026 5:00 AM ET / CNN
By Jennifer Agiesta, Annette Choi, Ariel Edwards-Levy, Edward Wu, David Goldman
CNN
“It’s more expensive to exist.”
“You’re just staying afloat instead of getting ahead.”
“It should not be like this.”
Those responses to a new CNN poll sum up Americans’ feelings about the economy: They just feel stuck.
CNN’s poll, conducted by SSRS, finds a surge in people naming high prices and the cost of living as the top economic problem facing their family. Strong majorities are pessimistic about the economy as a whole — almost 7 in 10 believe a recession is likely in the next year — and about their own ability to cover expenses and make purchases.
Those negative feelings about the economy, with major political implications for the midterms, reflect the strain across economic, generational and partisan lines on Americans’ everyday lives. Many people are trimming their grocery lists and cutting back spending on extras, and few feel comfortably able to save.
Americans feel a prevailing sense of economic uncertainty and precarity
A widening wealth gap in the United States has insulated the overall economy from a downturn. Stripping away gas prices and inflation, consumers continued to increase their spending during the first month of the Iran war. Part of the reason is that paycheck growth has outpaced inflation each month for nearly three years — a streak that could be broken in April as inflation expectations rise.
But averages don’t tell the full story: Middle-income and lower-income Americans’ wages stopped outpacing inflation last year, according to Bank of America.
That’s left many Americans in a sour mood about their financial prospects.
The public has held a negative view of the economy for five straight years in CNN’s polling. There’s a near-universal sense that the current economic moment is a better time to save than to spend on major purchases: Eighty-eight percent feel that way, including more than 8 in 10 across income brackets.
Perceptions of the economy went south shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly because prices rose sharply and the housing market froze. Although inflation has come back down in recent years, job growth has remained surprisingly strong and consumer spending has stayed robust, people haven’t yet adjusted to higher prices. Many feel left out of an unaffordable housing market.
Cost of living is a major concern across the board
Americans from all backgrounds name cost of living as their primary financial concern in an open-ended question.
Worries about the costs of food and gas are particularly prominent, with the share specifically naming gas prices rising from 5% a year ago to 23% now.
About one-third of Americans say they worry all or most of the time that their income won’t be enough to meet their expenses, with another 42% saying they worry about that at least some of the time.
Most say they cannot comfortably afford extras like a nice dinner out or a vacation, and only about a third feel they can comfortably afford an emergency expense of $1,000 or to save money for the future.
There’s little belief that the economic system works for average Americans
Three-quarters of Americans say the economic system unfairly favors powerful interests, and less than half now say that most people who want to get ahead can make it if they’re willing to work hard.
About half of Americans are dissatisfied with their financial situation, and more see their finances as worsening in the last year rather than improving.
And two-thirds of American workers say their wages are not keeping up with those climbing prices. That’s true for majorities across education and income lines, and regardless of whether people work in offices, factories or on outdoor worksites. Even among those workers earning household incomes of $150,000 or more, 57% say their wages aren’t keeping up.
About three-quarters of Americans say it’s harder to get ahead now than it was a generation ago, and a similar share say it will be even harder for the next generation.
As one person from Indiana who took the survey put it, “We are making the most money we have ever made, yet we have the least financial freedom we have ever experienced due to the increasing prices.”
METHODOLOGY NOTE: The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from April 30-May 4 among a random national sample of 1,499 US adults drawn from a probability-based panel. Surveys were either conducted online or by telephone with a live interviewer. Results shown in this chart have a margin of sampling error of up to ±2.8 percentage points.
CNN’s Koko Nakajima contributed to this report.