Wage Divide Widens as Many Delay Medical Care to Cover Essentials

The dividing line in today’s consumer economy is no longer employment itself. It is how workers experience liquidity.

The December edition of the Wage to Wallet Index finds that hourly Labor Economy workers live with tightening constraints, while non-Labor Economy employees, largely salaried, report expanding options.

Produced by PYMNTS Intelligence in collaboration with WorkWhile and Ingo Payments, the study, “Wage to Wallet Index: Liquidity Stress Splits Higher Earners and the Labor Economy,” draws on survey data, real-time labor insights and wage disbursement patterns to map how income timing shapes daily decisions.

The headline finding is blunt: sentiment improved in December almost entirely among non-Labor Economy workers, while Labor Economy sentiment remained in pessimistic territory, creating roughly a 10-point confidence gap. About 41% of salaried workers say their personal finances look better than the national economy, compared with just 17.7% of hourly workers. Conversely, 40.4% of Labor Economy workers report being worse off than average.

That divergence carries through to how people assess their own prospects. Labor Economy workers report high job security but low confidence in finding new work, a condition the report characterizes as “safe but stuck.” This lock-in dynamic narrows mobility and shifts priorities toward maintaining baseline stability such as shelter and transportation rather than optimizing credit scores or long-term savings.

Liquidity stress itself is widespread. Nearly one-third of both worker groups incur late fees, overdrafts or penalty interest at least once a month. The difference lies in impact. The report estimates that the effective monthly “price” of being short on cash runs about $50 for both groups, but that fixed burden consumes a far larger share of hourly income.

How the ‘Safety Valve’ Works in Practice

When money runs thin, households do not default at random. They triage. The Wage to Wallet Index shows consumers deliberately postpone flexible obligations to safeguard essentials. Medical bills and subscriptions function as the primary “safety valves,” allowing families to keep roofs overhead and cars on the road.

Labor Economy workers delay medical bills at a rate of about 30.3%, while delinquency on housing and transportation remains comparatively low, generally in the 10% to 13% range. In effect, households accept future credit or medical consequences to preserve present employability and housing stability.

The choice of safety valve also differs by worker type. Non-Labor Economy households predominantly rely on institutional credit such as credit cards or cash advances, with 37.5% using these tools to bridge gaps. Labor Economy workers, with thinner access to formal credit, more often turn to friends and family or make partial payments, a form of “social liquidity” that the report describes as fragile and difficult to scale. Over time, that brittleness can deepen pessimism as backup options narrow.

Wage Gains Help, but Fragility Persists

Recent wage increases add spending power but do not resolve structural vulnerability. Labor wages rose 0.13% in November, translating into an estimated $2.2 billion in annualized spending capacity. Even so, small changes in hours or pay can erase those gains once fixed penalties and paycheck delays enter the equation. Incremental progress, the report notes, remains exposed to timing gaps that repeatedly convert earnings into fees and missed payments.

The operational implication for banks, FinTechs and billers is straightforward. Liquidity mechanics now shape consumer behavior as much as employment status. Faster wage access, transparent short-duration liquidity products and alternatives to informal borrowing can blunt the regressive effects of timing penalties. At the same time, medical bills and subscriptions emerge as strategic pressure points for installment options and hardship workflows that preserve continuity without forcing households to choose between care and rent.

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