Even with inflation cooling, members of the American workforce are feeling the impact of the steady rise in prices for goods and services, with many of the youngest workers experiencing financial vulnerability.
New research commissioned by DailyPay and the American Savings Education Council and conducted by The Harris Poll among over 600 U.S. hourly workers finds that 82% of hourly workers—”including 88% of Gen Z hourly workers—report that inflation has had a negative impact on their finances, similar to the 85% of hourly workers who said the same in last year’s study.”
For many Gen Z hourly workers (ages 18-28), their current financial situation “has had a negative impact on their ability to follow their dreams (42%), their mental health (40%), and their ability to provide for themselves/families (40%).”
On a positive note, more than 2 in 5 (43%) Gen Z hourly workers “report that they are doing better financially today compared to a year ago.”
The poll also revealed that 92% of Gen Z hourly workers “associate potential benefits from having access to their earned wages after each shift, such as paying bills on time (48%), being able to afford necessities (46%), saving for the future (42%), or staying out of debt (36%).”
Similarly, most Millennial (ages 29-42) hourly workers (87%) and hourly workers “in all age groups (82%) identify some benefit from having access to their earned wages after each shift.”
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online “within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of DailyPay and the American Savings Education Council from August 6-8, 2024, among 665 U.S. adults ages 18 and older who are hourly workers.”
The sampling precision of Harris online polls “is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 4.4 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.”
This credible interval will be wider among subsets “of the surveyed population of interest.”
As covered, DailyPay, Inc. says it is “transforming the way people get paid. As a worktech company and the industry’s earned wage access solution,”
DailyPay uses technology platform to “help America’s top employers build stronger relationships with their employees.”
This voluntary employee benefit enables workers everywhere “to feel more motivated to work harder and stay longer on the job while supporting their financial well-being outside of the workplace. DailyPay is headquartered in New York City.”
