Almost half of Americans are struggling to pay for their basic needs

Groceries.
(Image credit: iStock/Fascinadora)

Being alive is cripplingly expensive.

Forty percent of Americans can't afford basic needs, a study by the Urban Institute, an economic think tank, found Tuesday. Adults are still struggling to pay for their groceries, medical bills, and housing expenses, the study, found, even as the unemployment rate under President Trump bottoms out at a mere 3.8 percent.

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Low-income households still had the highest reported hardship numbers, but it's now clear that belonging to the middle class no longer prevents families from the struggles of day-to-day living.

The Urban Institute polled more than 7,500 American adults, inviting them to complete the survey via email. Responses were collected from Dec. 14, 2017 to Jan. 5, 2018. See more results here.

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Amari Pollard

Amari Pollard is the social media editor at The Week and has written for Reader's Digest, Parents, and Inside Lacrosse. She studied journalism at Le Moyne College and can usually be found exploring Brooklyn, thrift shopping, or spending way too much money on brunch.