Study Shows Nearly 4 in 5 Americans Live Paycheck to Paycheck

A recent study by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder, a talent acquisition company, found that 78% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, including nearly 1 in 10 who make more than $100,000 per year. Twenty percent of American workers have missed a payment on a small bill and over 70% are in some form of debt.

The CareerBuilder study appears to confirm countless data on growing American debt and the struggles many underserved populations face accessing capital. The Federal Reserve released a report earlier this month noting total household indebtedness rose to its highest ever level at $12.84 trillion. The Fed’s report tracks closely with mounting evidence that credit invisibility, a lack of data needed to accurately score someone, plagues more than 20% of the American population.

Officials have put forth few solutions to combat credit invisibility and promote healthy solutions to debt management. Tribal lenders are helping to fill the gap between credit needs and availability. Small dollar lending is poised to continue growing in the coming decades to meet the needs of the underbanked and credit invisible.