With just three weeks left in the year.
It is a good time to check in to see how we've been doing,
whether in our relationships, our marriages or our finances.
So we're taking a look at the experiences of the modern American family.
And joining me now is Lewis Collins Family Beat and special
projects reporter at Desert News to break down a new survey
of the American family. Thank you so much for joining
my pleasure.
All right. So for those who aren't familiar with the American Family survey,
um, what exactly does it break down?
So,
the American family survey is in its ninth year and
it looks at attitudes and trends in family life.
It talks to people about what worries them
about what they do with their kids,
the kind of activities they pursue how they feel about marriage.
It's really pretty comprehensive, the reports, like 100 pages long.
And, and how does it show, uh Lewis that families are doing?
So, families.
It's really interesting because the survey talks
about two different kinds of family.
There's your family personally and then there's
the family generally and how they think
that is doing how are other families doing and there's
a really big difference there people love their own families.
They think their own family is doing just great.
They worry about different things for their own
families than they do for families generally.
But they think that families generally are really, really struggling.
They think that cost is a huge concern. Mental health is a huge concern.
Um That by the way is for both sets of families. Mental health is a problem
and they think that parental time with your family is hard stress.
There's a lot of stress and pressure in families.
Yeah, I think especially around the holidays, right?
A lot of that stress definitely can come to the forefront.
Let's talk about national debt. How does that uh show up in this survey?
So national debt in inflation is the biggest concern just as it was in your survey.
But national debt is huge because people think about
all the things, all that interest payment going to pay for
the interest on the debt that could be used for education,
it could be used to help families in so many ways it could be used for
national paid leave program or childcare subsidies and it's not going to people,
it's going to service
interest
on this debt. So that's a huge concern.
It also has a real impact on how people see um investment in the future
investment in the economy.
We've got tons of people who are worried about unemployment,
about the national debt, about lack of government assistance.
And for the first time, by the way,
this survey showed that people really are probably post
pandemic
concerned about programs that support families. They're much more supportive.
Well, let's just talk about $100,000.
Do you find that that is the new middle class based on this survey?
I would say that's absolutely true.
Um, I,
I saw a news story just this morning that said that the amount that people are
paying for their mortgage or for their rent is the highest that it's ever been.
That half of families um below 100,000 are struggling with that.
So if you add in the cost of inflation, high price of food, high price of housing,
particularly
if you don't make $100,000 you're probably really
struggling and if you're well below that,
then you're definitely struggling.
So yeah,
I would say that that is the new middle class and a lot of people aren't reaching it.
I see that private sector forecasters expect inflation
will fall below 2.5% next year in 2024.
So based on what families reported, how might that affect them?
So the hope is that that
wages will increase and people will be able to afford things,
but inflation going down isn't gonna make
a huge impact unless housing becomes affordable,
unless jobs become stable.
Um
A lot of people, I mean, there's unemployment is pretty low right now.
It's not a huge deal,
but if you're not making a living wage and you
can't keep up with the cost and that's terrible.
So,
I think there's a lot of hope that if inflation slows that
other things will kind of equalize and you'll be able to,
to pay your medical bills, pay your debts,
buy your food. Who knows if it will turn out that way
for the
last couple of years.
It def, it certainly has. Um, and I think, you know, certainly, uh,
it's been a, it's taken a toll. So what else might we expect in 2024?
Uh, lo is based on the survey
and how might we see it change over time?
So, the survey changes every year, it, it partly is standard questions that we ask,
you know, what do you do with your family, that kind of thing?
But it also has a lot to do with what's going on in the world.
So,
like this year we had some questions about abortion about book banning in school.
I would expect that money will continue
to be a big part of the, uh, survey,
but I would also expect that we could
probably see some stuff about artificial intelligence.
Um, the election is next year and so that's gonna, you know, we're gonna be,
we filled the survey in August and when we fill that survey,
election stuff is gonna be hot and heavy.
So
the topics that arise during that period and during the
election cycle are apt to be significant as well.
Lois such great insight.
We appreciate you sharing the survey findings with us here at Cheddar News.
That's Lois Collins reporter at Deseret News.