The Financial Health Networks 2022 U.S. Financial Health Pulse study reports that financial health in America declined across many demographic and socioeconomic groups over the past year.
This is the first time in the five years of this study that Americans' financial health declined.
As the report chart below shows (click to enlarge), the share of Americans reporting being financially healthy declined from 34% to 31%.
The study also reports that 37 million Americans are financially vulnerable, 139 million are financially coping, and 78 million are financially healthy.
We track this data because a lack of financial health is a key driver of the growing number of part-time gig workers.
Those financially vulnerable or coping are much more likely to supplement their income with part-time, or even full-time, independent work.
And as the Financial Health Network's findings show, 176 million Americans fall into these two categories.
This is one reason we continue to forecast that independent work and the gig economy will continue to grow.
The report has a lot more information on the financial health of Americans and is well worth reviewing for anyone interested in this topic.
