Key Findings

For millions of Americans, financial stability is a constant balancing act. An unexpected expense or a missed paycheck can upend a household budget. Yet many families experiencing this kind of financial strain are not reflected in traditional measures of economic hardship.

The Family Economic Well-Being Index uses data primarily from the American Community Survey to measure economic burden across four dimensions: housing, food, child care, and health care.

In each dimension, people are classified into four categories: comfortably meeting needs, getting by, burdened, and severely burdened. This lets the Index identify both those experiencing substantial hardship and those who are “getting by” with little margin to spare.

Finding 1

Economic insecurity extends far beyond poverty.

Seventy percent of Americans experience at least one economic burden measured by the Index. While food burden is concentrated among the lowest-income families, housing, health care, and child care are common well into the middle class. For example:

More than 1 in 4 people in the middle income quintile experience a housing burden.
Nearly half of people in the middle income quintile experience a health care burden.
For families with young children, child care burdens remain consistently high even as incomes rise. Sixty-nine percent of people in families in the middle income quintile experience a child care burden, as do 68 percent of people in families in the upper middle income quintile. Almost half of all families in the top income quintile experience a child care burden, underscoring how affordable child care remains out of reach even for the wealthiest families with young children.

A Substantial Share of People in Households With Low Incomes Face Multiple Cost Burdens

Percent of people experiencing one, two, or three or more cost burdens, by household income quintile.

A Substantial Share of People in Households With Low Incomes Face Multiple Cost Burdens - Show Data

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Finding 2

Burdens often compound.

About one in six people experience three or more economic burdens simultaneously, while more than one in five experience two. These overlapping pressures fall hardest on children, renters, and Black and Latino people.

Twenty-five percent of children experience three or more burdens, compared to only 15 percent of working age adults and 12 percent of seniors.
Eighty-three percent of renters experience at least one burden, compared to 66 percent of homeowners. Only 12 percent of homeowners experience three or more burdens, compared to 27 percent of renters.
Seventy-seven percent of Black Americans experience at least one burden, and more than 1 in 5 experience three or more burdens.
Eighty percent of Latino Americans experience at least one burden, and 1 in 4 experience three or more burdens.
Sixty-six percent of white Americans experience at least one burden, and 12 percent experience three or more.
Sixty-seven percent of Asian Americans experience at least one burden, and 15 percent experience three or more.

Finding 3

Children experience disproportionately high levels of economic burden.

Eighty-one percent of children in the United States experience at least one burden, and 25 percent experience three or more burdens, the highest share of any age group.

While 1 in 4 children experience three or more burdens, only 15 percent of working-age adults (ages 18–64) and 12 percent of adults age 65 and older experience three or more burdens.
Children make up 22 percent of the total population, but 44 percent of children experience food burden, a significantly higher rate than any other age group. Twenty-nine percent of working age adults experience a food burden, and 27 percent of seniors.

Children Are Most Likely to Live in a Household Facing Multiple Cost Burdens

Percent of people experiencing one, two, or three or more cost burdens, by age group.

Children Are Most Likely to Live in a Household Facing Multiple Cost Burdens - Show Data

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Finding 4

Economic burden varies substantially across states depending on the dimension.

Geographic patterns differ by dimension, underscoring that states face distinct affordability challenges.

Geographic patterns differ by dimension, underscoring that states face distinct affordability challenges in housing, food, and health care. For example, food burden varies dramatically by state, from 43 percent in Mississippi to 19 percent in New Hampshire. The highest food-burdened states include Southern states and high cost-of-living outliers: Mississippi (43 percent), Louisiana (40 percent), Alabama (40 percent), Hawaii (39 percent) and Oklahoma (39 percent).
Health care burdens are highest in the South. Texas and Mississippi have the highest health care burdens, with 50 percent of their residents experiencing a health care burden, compared to 20 percent in Washington D.C., the lowest health care burden rate in the country. Texas and Mississippi’s health care burdens are followed closely by Oklahoma (49 percent), Alabama (48 percent), and Georgia (48 percent). With the exception of Oklahoma, none of those highest-burden states have expanded Medicaid.

Finding 5

Racial and ethnic disparities persist across every dimension of economic security.

Across all four of the Index’s dimensions, Black and Latino Americans experience the highest burden rates.

Black and Latino Americans experience food burden at rates of 45 and 46 percent, respectively, compared to 24 percent of white Americans.
Black Americans experience the highest housing burden rate at 43 percent, followed closely by Latino (40 percent). Thirty-seven percent of Asian Americans experience a housing burden. Twenty-nine percent of white Americans experience a housing burden.
Latino Americans experience the highest health care burden (49 percent) of any racial or ethnic group measured.
Black parents of young children experience a substantially higher child care burden than white or Latino parents — 71 percent versus 59 percent for both.

Black and Latino People Are Most Likely to Live in a Household Facing Multiple Cost Burdens

Percent of people experiencing one, two, or three or more cost burdens, by racial or ethnic group.

Black and Latino People Are Most Likely to Live in a Household Facing Multiple Cost Burdens - Show Data

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