--- title: Stress Hits This Generation Hardest description: Even with the improving economy, one population of Americans is more stressed about financial concerns than they were nearly a decade ago canonical: https://time.com/3695375/americans-money-stress/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-04T15:33:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:41.678Z article:section: Health og:title: This Generation Is the Most Stressed About Money og:description: Even with the improving economy, one population of Americans is more stressed about financial concerns than they were nearly a decade ago og:url: https://time.com/3695375/americans-money-stress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45e31db15a86a480/69877d8d06f2c1e0e8333ce5/511823541.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3253 og:image:height: 1830 og:image:alt: 511823541 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Generation Is the Most Stressed About Money twitter:description: Even with the improving economy, one population of Americans is more stressed about financial concerns than they were nearly a decade ago twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45e31db15a86a480/69877d8d06f2c1e0e8333ce5/511823541.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Millennials and Gen Xers Feel the Most Stress About Money > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=3b7660a1-3650-4ca5-a237-f2bda15ff237&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Feb 4, 2015 3:33 PM UTC  Hand reaching for money, a hanging stack of one hundred dollar bills Hand reaching for money, a hanging stack of one hundred dollar bills John Holcroft—Getty Images/Ikon Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Feb 4, 2015 3:33 PM UTC In the latest [survey of Stress in America](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/stress-report.pdf) conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA), money remained the top causes of stress reported by a group of more than 3,000 adults aged 18 years or older, followed by work, family and health concerns. Overall, the average level of stress, reported on a 10-point scale, is at its lowest since the APA began the survey in 2007. But 29% of participants said that their anxiety over money matters increased in the past year, and younger generations and parents seem to be feeling the pinch most. More than one-third of parents reported higher stress levels over the past year (at 5.8) compared to non-parents (at 4.4). Millennials and Gen Xers (aged 18 to 49 years) felt more stress than the average American about money. “Where Millennials are concerned, we know that the cost of education is pretty high in this country, and student debt is higher,” says Katherine Nordal, executive director of Professional Practice at the APA. “The job market until recently has also been problematic.” The gap between financial stress between lower and higher income families is also widening; in 2007 both groups reported the same amount of anxiety over money, but in the current survey, those making less than $50,000 a year were twice as likely as those in higher income groups to feel stress about financial matters all or most of the time. While the overall rate of stress about money is declining, Nordal says the trends involving younger generations and lower income households is concerning, because strategies for coping with stress aren’t improving, despite greater awareness of its health risks. One in five Americans said they did not have anyone to turn to for emotional support; 27% of those in lower income households fall into this category, compared to 17% of those in higher income groups. “Good support systems seem to be good for reducing stress — it’s not an inoculation against stress but it can be a stress reduction factor,” says Nordal. Lack of emotional support can also drive people to unhealthy coping mechanisms, including over-eating, not sleeping well and becoming more sedentary. Forty-two percent of respondents said they indulged in such behaviors to cope with their stress in the past month. “Excessive alcohol use, smoking, eating the wrong kinds of foods, not exercising and being too sedentary we know are behaviors that lead to disease states, and unhealthy states,” says Nordal. “And these health risks are very real. We’d like to see people doing things that are more proactive to cope with stress, such as meditation, relaxation techniques and exercise.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3695375/americans-money-stress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3695375/americans-money-stress/"},"headline":"Millennials and Gen Xers Feel the Most Stress About Money","datePublished":"2015-02-04T15:33:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:41.678Z","description":"Even with the improving economy, one population of Americans is more stressed about financial concerns than they were nearly a decade ago","url":"https://time.com/3695375/americans-money-stress/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","Living","Anxiety","Stress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45e31db15a86a480/69877d8d06f2c1e0e8333ce5/511823541.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45e31db15a86a480/69877d8d06f2c1e0e8333ce5/511823541.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"511823541","caption":"511823541","creditText":"John Holcroft—Getty Images/Ikon Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-healthpsychology/","name":"Mental Health/Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3695375/americans-money-stress/","name":"Millennials and Gen Xers Feel the Most Stress About Money"}}]}] ```