--- title: Nearly Half of Americans Think We're in a Recession, and They're Saving Up to Survive It description: Poll results show that 46% of Americans believe the U.S. economy is currently in a recession — and many have started preparing for one. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 501 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2023-03-06T18:23:04.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T12:51:30.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - News word_count: 471 canonical: https://money.com/recession-poll-saving-money/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Person holding small sack of cash in front of an oversized downwards pointing arrow chart](https://img.money.com/2023/03/News-Half-Americans-Think-Were-In-Recession.jpg) Nearly half of Americans believe we’re already in a recession, according to a new survey, and almost as many have actively started preparing for one. ## What the research says - Research firm Morning Consult released [poll results](https://morningconsult.com/2023/03/06/americans-preparing-for-recession-shore-up-savings-cut-spending/) Monday showing that 46% of Americans said they think the economy is currently in a recession. Another 22% said that — while they don’t believe a recession is here already — the country will be in one within the next year. - The survey, which included responses from more than 2,200 U.S. adults contacted in February, also found that 41% of Americans said they're changing their financial behaviors to prepare for a recession. An additional 41% told Morning Consult that they aren’t able to prepare for one actively but wish they could. - Common steps people are taking right now to gird their finances against an economic downturn include building up their [emergency savings](https://money.com/emergency-fund-too-small-inflation/), [cutting back on spending](https://money.com/dollar-scholar-cash-only/) and [stockpiling food](https://money.com/10-items-always-buy-in-bulk/) or supplies. ## Keep in mind Officially speaking, the U.S. economy is not in a recession — though there are warning signs that an economic slowdown may be on the horizon. - What, exactly, a recession is can be hard to pin down. Though a common definition links it to two consecutive quarters of gross domestic product decline, there's actually a group of academics at the National Bureau of Economic Research formally in charge of defining when a recession begins and ends. - And *their* [definition of a recession](https://money.com/recession-vs-depression/) is vague: "a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months," according to the NBER website. - Many Americans look to recent layoffs, in the tech sector especially, as evidence that a recession is coming or is perhaps already here — though the overall [job market remains resilient](https://money.com/unemployment-january-jobs-report-stock-market/). - The housing market has also taken a hit, with prices falling yet [affordability worsening](https://money.com/housing-affordability-lowest-level-in-history/) due to skyrocketing [mortgage rates](https://money.com/current-mortgage-rates/). - While these warning signs are flashing, they do not likely qualify for NBER’s definition of widespread economic decline, as they remain contained to specific sectors. ## The takeaway While many are convinced a recession is a sure thing, some economists say all is going according to plan. The [Federal Reserve is raising interest rates](https://money.com/fed-interest-rate-hike-february-2023/) to slow the overheated economy and curb inflation. For example, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, suggests that widespread *perception* of a looming recession might actually help the U.S. avoid one: “Pervasive pessimism” of a recession has led to decreased spending from consumers and businesses, he [recently tweeted](https://twitter.com/Markzandi/status/1632358302708367360). And that, Zandi said, could be key to getting [inflation](https://money.com/rising-rent-home-costs-high-inflation/) under control — thus sidestepping an official recession. [The 3 Best Money Moves for March](https://money.com/best-money-moves/) [Why Millionaires Don't Have to Pay Any More Social Security Taxes This Year](https://money.com/millionaires-social-security-taxes-income-cap/) [Stock Market Outlook: What to Watch in the Week Ahead](https://money.com/weekly-stock-market-outlook/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/recession-poll-saving-money/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Recession", "item": "https://money.com/recession/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Nearly Half of Americans Think We're in a Recession, and They're Saving Up to Survive It" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/recession-poll-saving-money/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/recession-poll-saving-money/", "name": "Nearly Half of Americans Think We're in a Recession, and They're Saving Up to Survive It", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-03-06T18:23:04.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/recession-poll-saving-money/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/recession-poll-saving-money/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T12:51:30.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Nearly Half of Americans Think We're in a Recession, and They're Saving Up to Survive It", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/03/News-Half-Americans-Think-Were-In-Recession.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Half-Americans-Think-Were-In-Recession" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. 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