How Financial Support Beyond Family Is Breaking Household Budgets

Financial pressure remains a defining feature of the United States consumer experience. In late 2025, two-thirds of consumers are living paycheck to paycheck. Nearly one in four are struggling to pay their bills. Yet financial strain does not exist in isolation. Many consumers—especially millennials—manage their own expenses while providing critical financial support to partners, children, extended family members and even nonfamily dependents.

This month’s Paycheck-to-Paycheck report, “How Financial Support Beyond Family Is Breaking Household Budgets,” explores how dependent obligations and financial stress intersect. The findings highlight a core paradox of household finances: those under the most financial pressure are often the most responsible for others. Even those struggling to make ends meet support dependents, frequently covering up to half of their living costs. As financial pressure increases, coping strategies shift from disciplined budgeting to harder trade-offs, such as cutting essential expenses and relying on credit.

By analyzing differences among paycheck-to-paycheck personas, generations and income levels, this report identifies who bears the greatest financial burden and how they manage it. These patterns shed light on resilience, risk and consumers’ unmet needs in today’s economy.

• Consumers are Struggling
• Family Matters
• Coping With Costs
• Conclusion
• Read More
• Methodology

Consumers are Struggling

In November 2025, nearly one-quarter of U.S. consumers struggled to pay their bills, with more attributing their paycheck-to-paycheck status to spending choices rather than necessity.

The share of U.S. consumers living paycheck to paycheck, as well as those struggling to pay bills, rose from the prior month.

In November 2025, 67.2% of U.S. consumers were living paycheck to paycheck, an increase from 65.5% in October, continuing the upward trend observed since early 2024. This share hovered near 60% two years ago but has since risen, remaining consistently in the upper 60% range. Nearly one in four of these consumers reported struggling to pay bills—up 3% from October.

In November 2025, paycheck-to-paycheck living by necessity declined, while living this lifestyle by choice increased.

In November 2025, the share of paycheck-to-paycheck consumers living this financial lifestyle by choice reached 31%, while those living it by necessity declined to 40%.

A sizable middle group remains. Roughly three in 10 paycheck-to-paycheck consumers report living this financial lifestyle, with a mix saying they do so either by necessity or by choice.

Month-to-month variation suggests that perceptions of financial control fluctuate rather than follow a steady trend. The November shift may reflect seasonal or short-term dynamics, including consumers’ perception that they are choosing to participate in holiday spending.

Family Matters

Nearly two-thirds of struggling consumers provide financial support to others, including 36% who support extended family or nonfamily members.

Financial support is widespread across U.S. consumers, with the highest prevalence among those living paycheck to paycheck by choice, millennials and higher-income earners.

Supporting others is common across the financial spectrum, including among those under the most financial pressure. Nearly seven in ten consumers report providing financial support to others using their own income. A consumer’s financial lifestyle does not meaningfully reduce this responsibility. Even among those struggling to pay bills, nearly two-thirds continue to support others.

Within the paycheck-to-paycheck population, those living this financial lifestyle by choice stand out. Seventy-six percent provide financial support, compared with 62% of those driven by necessity—suggesting that financial obligations often coexist with lifestyle preferences rather than replacing them.

Millennials are the most likely generation to support others, with 80% doing so. This reinforces their role as a financial backbone for both households and extended networks. Support levels decline notably among baby boomers, with just more than half providing financial assistance.

Nearly two-thirds of struggling paycheck-to-paycheck consumers provide financial support to others.

Financial support is usually concentrated within the nuclear family. Sixty-nine percent of consumers either support only themselves or provide support to a partner and underage children. Yet a meaningful minority—31%—extend financial support beyond the household, helping parents, siblings, former spouses or other nonfamily members. A particularly strained segment, representing 16% of consumers, supports both their nuclear family and other family members simultaneously, bearing the greatest financial responsibility.

Millennials are the most likely to shoulder this dual responsibility, with 21.4% providing support both inside and outside their immediate household. For consumers living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to pay bills, 36% help extended or nonfamily members. Those living this financial lifestyle by choice also stand out, as 22.9% support both nuclear and extended networks—suggesting that lifestyle decisions and financial obligations often intersect rather than operate independently.

Coping With Costs

Consumers typically cover approximately half of a dependent’s living costs. Under financial strain, budgeting gives way to more difficult trade-offs, like cutting essentials and relying on credit.

Consumers living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to pay bills often cover roughly half of their extended family’s annual expenses.

Peak financial responsibility for immediate family members remains consistently high across financial lifestyles and income levels. Roughly six in ten consumers report periods of maximum support for their nuclear household. This baseline stability suggests that core family obligations are largely non-negotiable, regardless of financial circumstance.

The differences become clearer beyond the nuclear family. Consumers struggling to pay bills report higher peak coverage for extended family needs than non-paycheck-to-paycheck consumers. This suggests that financial strain often coincides with broader dependency rather than with narrower responsibility. Within the paycheck-to-paycheck segment, those living this financial lifestyle by choice again stand out: 55% report peak support for extended family, compared with 41% among those living this financial lifestyle out of necessity.

Support for nonfamily dependents, by contrast, rises with income. More than half of consumers annually earning $150K or more report peak coverage for nonfamily needs. In comparison, 42% of those earning less than $50K do so. This suggests that discretionary support expands as financial capacity increases.

While budgeting and planning dominate overall, struggling and low-income consumers are more likely to rely on cost-cutting and reactive strategies to manage their obligations to dependents.

Most consumers manage financial obligations to dependents through formal financial discipline, such as budgeting and planned income allocation. This is the dominant approach across financial lifestyles and demographics. Overall, two-thirds of consumers rely on these structured strategies, underscoring their role as the primary mechanism for maintaining financial stability.

Under financial strain, however, this structured planning begins to erode. Consumers struggling to pay bills are less likely to formally plan their spending and more likely to adopt reactive measures. These could include cost-cutting and using credit. Nearly one in ten strained consumers report reducing essential expenses, such as food or utilities. This compares with just 1.5% of financially secure consumers. Credit use also rises sharply with strain. Struggling paycheck-to-paycheck consumers rely on credit nearly four times as often as those not living this financial lifestyle.

Age further shapes coping strategies. Younger consumers are more likely to adjust their labor supply by working additional hours or taking on extra work to meet dependent obligations. Coordination or cost-sharing with other family members remains uncommon across all groups, even for those under financial pressure.

Conclusion

Supporting others has become a defining financial reality, even with consumers under strain. With most paycheck-to-paycheck consumers continuing to shoulder dependent costs, financial stress increasingly drives harder trade-offs—greater reliance on credit, reduced essential spending and heightened vulnerability to shocks. These patterns point to a growing need for financial tools and payment solutions that provide flexibility, liquidity and predictability for households balancing their own needs with the responsibility of supporting others.

Read More

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Methodology

“How Financial Support Beyond Family Is Breaking Household Budgets,” a PYMNTS Intelligence exclusive report, is based on a survey of 2,609 U.S. adult consumers conducted from Nov. 18, 2025, to Nov. 30, 2025. The report examines the extent of financial support among U.S. consumers by analyzing who they support, the depth of those obligations and the strategies used to manage the costs of an extended household. All findings are descriptive and reflect self-reported behavior. Results describe associations rather than causal relationships. Our sample was balanced to match the U.S. adult population by age, gender, education and income.