Majority of Americans feel behind on saving for emergencies, new survey reveals

A majority of households say they feel behind on saving for emergencies — with only 19% of families reporting that they increased their emergency savings balances since the beginning of the year, according to a new report from Bankrate.

Higher interest rates and inflation took a toll on American's saving accounts this year. Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst said, “Rising prices and high household expenses have been the predominant impediments to boosting emergency savings."

Key takeaways

• About 57% of households that did not increase their emergency savings or have no savings say inflation is keeping them from saving more.
• Thirty-eight percent say they're significantly behind on saving for emergencies and 22% said they're slightly behind.
• Nearly one-third of households have less emergency savings now than at the start of 2023.
• Many who are behind on emergency savings don’t think they’ll be back on track soon, or ever. 

Emergency savings in 2023

Those with emergency savings vary by age and income

When it comes to age, older generations are more likely than younger ones to have less emergency savings now than compared to the start of 2023. About 21% of Gen-Zers responded saying they have less emergency savings. That's compared to 39% of Gen Xers who said they have less emergency savings now compared to the beginning the year.

The likelihood of having no emergency savings either now or at the beginning of 2023 decreases as household income increases, according to Bankrate data.

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Why do people have less emergency savings?

The top reason Americans haven’t increased their savings this year is inflation, cited by 57% of all households, followed by 38% of people saying they have too many expenses.

“Cutting household expenses in a meaningful way may not be feasible with the run-up in prices for mainstay items such as shelter, food, and energy over the past couple of years,” said McBride.

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How was this data collected?

This data was collected by surveying roughly 2,500 adults in September regarding their level of emergency savings.