1 in 3 Young Adults Turn to Friends and Family as Costs Rise

Rising costs are no longer just squeezing household budgets. They are reshaping how different generations make financial decisions, from grocery shopping to healthcare use, according to new PYMNTS Intelligence research.

The December 2025 PYMNTS Data Book, “Rising Costs and Financial Pressures Push Consumers to Adapt,” draws on a survey of 2,368 U.S. adults conducted in September and shows a broad convergence of financial stress paired with sharply divergent responses.

Daily living expenses now top the list of concerns across every generation, while healthcare costs have moved from a secondary worry to a central pressure point. The report finds that roughly half of consumers, regardless of age, cite everyday expenses as their primary challenge, with medical costs close behind.

Yet beneath that surface uniformity, the data reveals widening generational gaps in coping strategies, expectations and financial resilience.

Three data points underscore how those differences are playing out:

50% Daily Pressure: About half of U.S. consumers across all age groups say rising daily living expenses are their biggest financial challenge. This consistency masks very different adjustments. Older consumers tend to cut discretionary spending, while younger adults are more likely to seek additional income sources or alternative forms of support. The result is a shared sense of strain, but not a shared response.

80% Healthcare Burden: More than 8 in 10 Gen Z consumers say healthcare costs place at least a moderate burden on their household budgets, roughly twice the share of baby boomers who say the same. Nearly two-thirds of consumers overall report healthcare as a meaningful financial weight. For younger workers with thinner savings buffers and less comprehensive benefits, medical expenses are increasingly colliding with rent, food and utilities.

33% Informal Borrowing: One-third of Gen Z and zillennial consumers report borrowing money from friends or family to manage rising costs, compared with much lower rates among older cohorts. While 7 in 10 baby boomers and seniors say they respond to financial pressure by cutting back spending, only about half of Gen Z does so. Social networks are filling gaps that traditional credit products often do not address.

Beyond these headline numbers, the report highlights behavioral shifts with longer-term implications for banks, FinTechs and healthcare providers.

Nearly 1 in 5 consumers delayed a doctor visit in the past three months because of cost, while others skipped tests or reduced medication use. These tradeoffs are concentrated among younger adults and risk turning short-term savings into higher long-term costs, both financial and medical.

The data also points to a growing divide in how effective consumers feel their coping strategies are. Nearly half of millennials and zillennials say their actions to manage rising costs have been very effective. Consumers living paycheck to paycheck report far less success. This split suggests that digital tools and flexible financial products are helping some households adapt, while others remain stuck with limited options.

Technology expectations further reinforce the generational divide. Younger consumers show strong interest in real-time insurance benefit checks and AI-driven healthcare cost estimates, tools that promise predictability before a bill arrives.

Older consumers express far less demand for these features, often opting out entirely. For issuers, payers and providers, this creates a clear signal. Financial stress is universal. The solutions will not be.