Most Workers Have Sadly Given Up On This Basic Thing Ever Happening Again In Their Lifetime
KlingSup | Shutterstock A new survey revealed that a majority of American workers do not believe that their income will ever catch up to the increasing cost of living in their lifetime.
The economy is definitely going through a rough patch, and it’s hitting workers hard. Some things that were simply a normal part of life a few years ago are now completely unattainable because of rising costs.
People are working hard, so why isn’t their pay reflecting that? There are many contributing factors that have put us in a position where it feels like only the top 1% are truly thriving. This has led most workers to believe they're chasing their tails by waiting for things to get better.
Workers don’t believe their income will ever catch up with the cost of living again.
Resume Now recently released their 2026 Financial Outlook Report, and it doesn’t paint a pretty picture. The website surveyed 1,011 American workers, and an astonishing 49% said that they felt like their income would never catch up to the cost of living in their lifetime.
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In addition to almost half of the respondents who said their wages would never match the cost of living in their lifetime, another 32% said they thought that wages would catch up, but it would take years. Only 19% believed that it would happen within the next year.
It’s not surprising, then, that a lot of people think that financial stress is only going to worsen from here. 39% of survey participants thought their level of stress about money would remain the same in the coming year. 25% said they expected it to increase somewhat, and 13% plan for a significant increase. Only 23% thought their stress would lessen.
There are a variety of reasons why the cost of living is so high right now.
In an October poll from CBS News, Americans made it clear that the economy and jobs were the “most important issue facing the country” right now. According to CBS News contributors Aimee Picchi and Mary Cunningham, there are five spending categories that people are struggling with: food, housing, child care, health care, and electricity and utility costs. In other words, pretty much everything we need feels unaffordable right now.
NerdWallet writer Taryn Phaneuf explained that pandemic-related uncertainty drove prices and inflation higher. Inflation is not as high now, but prices aren’t coming down. Everything from labor shortages to wars to a lack of housing to tariffs has contributed to prices remaining at a level that feels unmanageable.
The World Population Review’s Cost of Living Index revealed that the average household in the U.S. spends $61,334 on expenses annually. That’s more money than some people make in a year. In fact, SoFi reported that the average salary for an American worker in 2025 was $63,795.
Financial struggles are impacting many workers' personal lives as well.
Obviously, there’s a major problem in the U.S. today. People are working as hard as they possibly can, in some cases taking on second jobs or side hustles, but they’re still struggling to make ends meet. The Resume Now survey actually found that 27% of workers thought their salary was a lot lower than it should be, while 42% said it was somewhat lower than it should be.
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This is really stunting Americans’ growth, not just financially, but personally as well. 48% said they have held off on certain milestone events, like buying a house or starting a family, because of money. It’s hard to look at statistics like that and compare them to generations past, who were able to afford to buy homes relatively young and have large families.
This is a multifaceted issue. It would be easy to say that workers just need to be better compensated for doing their jobs, but that wouldn’t change the fact that prices are absolutely out of control. The problems with the economy must be faced holistically if we have any hope of bouncing back.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
