Senior Advisor and Research Fellow, Consumer Finance Institute
February 2025
This report is part of a quarterly series on key observations from the Labor, Income, Finances, and Expectations (LIFE) Survey. Data from the survey provide insight into consumers’ recent financial lives and their future expectations.
The data presented in the January 2025 LIFE Survey Report show that consumers’ net optimism about their income is at its highest point in the life of the survey. We note several key observations about consumers’ financial lives over the past 12 months, including:
The percentage of respondents having trouble paying their bills decreased slightly in January and is level with the same period last year.
The share of respondents concerned about making ends meet decreased in January and continues to be at a similar level to the prior year.
Respondents’ net sentiment improved between October and January, a change which may, in part, reflect a seasonal phenomenon.
Download expanded data tables featured in the January 2025 LIFE Survey Data Report here.
