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More than five years after the coronavirus pandemic began, Americans remain anxious about a growing list of concerns, according to research from The Harris Poll and PRSA. Inflation, misinformation, political divisiveness, global instability, artificial intelligence and climate change continue to weigh on people’s minds.
In the last six months, “AI has overtaken climate change as a stressor in Americans’ day-to-day lives,” said Drew Higham, vice president of strategy for The Harris Poll.
“Americans are fixated on affordability,” he said during the July 27 livestream of Member Mondays, one of PRSA’s regular professional-development offerings. In the poll, respondents said groceries were harder to afford in 2025 than in 2024, while about half said tariffs had been bad for their finances.
The research also suggests that many Americans’ perceptions of the economy don’t always align with economic indicators. Some 57% of those polled said the U.S. economy is in a recession, “when we know it’s not,” Higham said. “They think unemployment and inflation are increasing, despite what the data may say.”
Urban and rural Americans hold starkly different views of the U.S. economy and how it’s affecting their personal fortunes, the research finds. But in America’s large cities, people also feel the strain of high prices, difficult job markets and uncertain futures.
Some 48% of urban Americans in the poll agreed that the economy in their community is strong, compared to 27% of rural respondents. Asked about the cost of living, 23% of urban Americans said it’s improving in their area, versus just 10% of rural Americans.
“There’s a growing divergence between how rural and urban Americans are feeling,” Higham told Heide Harrell, MA, APR, PRSA’s 2026 chair and host of Member Mondays.
‘Illusion of affluence’
Even for Americans who believe they’re doing well financially, their affluence might be an illusion, the research suggests. Among respondents whose households earn more than $200,000 a year, nearly half (46%) rely on credit cards to make ends meet. Of those, 80% use credit cards for purchases because they’ve run out of cash.
Among Americans who earn $200,000 or more, 48% feel they’re one unexpected bill away from financial chaos, the research finds.
“About half have to check their bank balance before buying groceries,” Higham said. “Americans are struggling to stay ahead.”
Gen Z and millennial men turn to alternative means to build wealth
With Bloomberg reporting that more than half of Americans (51%) say the economy isn’t working for them, 64% of Gen Z and millennial respondents to the Harris Poll agreed that the only realistic way to build wealth is through alternative methods such as cryptocurrencies, gambling, or trading stocks in personal accounts.
Among Gen Z and millennial men polled, 46% said the main reason they turned to legal sports gambling or prediction markets — which allow people to bet on the outcome of events — was to improve their finances.
“When people feel trapped economically, they’ll bet on anything to get ahead,” Higham said. “Young people are pessimistic about their futures, and they’re looking for financial alternatives.”
He showed a slide that read: “Teen Boys Are Losing Everything at Crypto Casinos.”
In the poll, 57% of respondents said they have friends who have become less social because of their gambling habits.
AI brings both obsolescence and hope
Many members of Gen Z, on track to be the most educated generation in American history, can’t find entry-level work. More than 4 million Gen Zers are unemployed, and some experts argue that certain degree programs don’t adequately prepare graduates for today’s job market.
Some 82% of Gen Z professionals already use AI at work, even as 65% fear the technology will render their skills obsolete. More than half of Gen Z workers polled (56%) fear they’re training their own AI replacements.
For their part, nearly all business leaders polled, 97%, said AI will benefit their companies and their own careers. Higham said the findings highlight a widening gap between how business leaders and younger workers view AI’s impact on the future of work.
“Companies are freezing a lot of the entry-level roles for new graduates,” Higham said. As a result, young Americans are feeling “pessimistic about their future and how they can get a head start in their career.”
Illustration credit: Olga Gorkun
