Building Wealth in America:
Operation HOPE Clients are Not Giving Up on Capitalism, but Say it Should Work Better
Only 3 out of every 20 people surveyed said capitalism is working well for those who work hard
HERE ARE FIVE KEY FINDINGS:
1. Capitalism still works, but needs some changes
Clients are divided between who our current economic system helps and how easy it is to build wealth. About one-third say the current state of capitalism is working for Americans—but the rules favor those who already have money—while another third say it’s broken and needs to be fixed. Fifteen percent say it’s working the way it’s supposed to.
Digging deeper, two out of five believe that someone who starts with very little can still build real wealth in this economy, whereas the same amount believe it is much harder now than it used to be (40% and 41%, respectively). 15% say wealth-building is only accessible to those who have the right connections or a lot of luck.
2. Less people living paycheck to paycheck
Although half of clients continue to say their personal debt levels have increased over the past three months, those who are living paycheck to paycheck dropped to 69% this quarter, down from 76%. This correlates with a quarterly increase in those who say they are better off financially than they were a year ago, from 29% to 36%.
3.Nearly half have used “Buy Now, Pay Later” in the past 3 months
Forty-six percent say they used a “Buy Now, Pay Later” service, such as Afterpay, Affirm or Klarna, for any of their purchases in the past three months, which trends similarly to when we asked this a year ago. However, those who say they will consider this option in the next three months has declined from 46% last year to only 40% this year. Perhaps this speaks to their strategy, with over half of those who use the service saying it is only for large purchases like replacing an appliance (51%).
Concern over BNPL services negatively affecting their credit scores has decreased from 47% last year to only 40% this year. However, 40% is still a large enough number to shine a light on the unknowns in this category.
4. Optimism rising, but strong concern about the housing market remains
Concern in housing prices has hovered steadily around 85% since last year (it is 86% this quarter). However, nearly half of clients are hopeful that housing prices in their community will allow for greater homeownership over the next year (45%), which is an upward trend from this time last year at 38%.
5. Large majority hopeful for a better future
Nearly 9 in 10 clients are hopeful that their financial wellbeing will increase over the next year (87%). Within that, those who say they are very hopeful increased significantly from last quarter, from 44% up to 55%. This is the first time since the inception of The HOPE Insider almost three years ago that more than half of those surveyed said they are very hopeful in their financial future.
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