Research conducted by Harris Poll and DailyPay unveils financial concerns among healthcare workers

NEW YORK, July 12, 2024 – Healthcare workers across the United States are struggling with their finances, according to new research conducted by the Harris Poll, and DailyPay. Among the key findings include:

• The majority (57%) of healthcare workers in the U.S. feel stressed about the state of their finances.
• Nearly half (49%) find it challenging to pay bills on time. 
• Thirty-four percent say they ran out of money between paychecks in the past year. 
• A quarter (25%) say they were unable to pay a bill in the past year. 

The survey also reveals the financial challenges of healthcare workers today could potentially have a long-term negative impact.

• Over a third (37%) of healthcare workers in the U.S. say they cannot adequately save enough for the future.
• Thirty-four percent say they do not feel like they can save enough money to live comfortably in retirement.

“Healthcare workers have selflessly served communities all across the country during some of our most difficult times,” said Ed Zaval, chief customer officer at DailyPay. “Amid continued high inflation, they are challenged to make ends meet and pay bills on time.” 

However, one solution to healthcare workers’ ability to pay bills on time is the timing of their pay and the relevance of the employer-offered financial wellness benefit of earned wage access. With earned wage access, employees are empowered to access their pay as they earn it to pay bills on time, spend, save, or invest on their own schedule. 

• The majority (82%) of healthcare workers in the U.S. say it would be helpful to be paid more frequently than twice per month.
• Nearly half (48%) say that earned wage access would help their ability to balance their personal finances.

“We are encouraged to see that earned wage access offered by leading healthcare providers can be helpful in balancing their finances and avoid falling into debt,” added Zaval.

Survey Methodology:

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys.  The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval.  For this study, the sample data is accurate to within ± 6.4 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest.   For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact David Schwarz.