Survey: LGBTQ Adults Have More Anxiety and Negative Feelings About Their Finances

Robert Carnevale
Survey: LGBTQ Adults Have More Anxiety and Negative Feelings About Their Finances
Survey: LGBTQ Adults Have More Anxiety and Negative Feelings About Their Finances

While money matters often make the average person feel uncomfortable, members of the LGBTQ community have more anxiety and negativity about their personal finances than those who identify as heterosexual, according to a new WNYC Studios' survey.

When it comes to money matters, LGBTQ respondents experienced more negative emotions, such as pessimism, anxiety and depression, and fewer positive ones, like excitement, control and confidence, than straight respondents, according to the survey of 6,603 American adults, of whom 778 who identified as being LGBTQ.

A majority (52%) of LGBTQ respondents said they have anxiety about their finances and 25% cited their gender identity or sex has impacted on their finances, the 2019 LGBTQ Money Matters Survey revealed.

Coming out of the closet negatively affected respondents being able to rely on their family for financial support: just 20% said they were able to rely on family or friends for support after coming out versus 35% who were able to before coming out.

LGBTQ adults also said they were less likely to consider themselves financially literate than straight adults: 26% of LGBTQ respondents in their 20s said they knew “not much” or “nothing at all” about managing their money matters versus 18% of straight adults. Financial literacy improves with age for both groups, and actually reverses by age 55, with LGBTQ adults feeling less anxious than straight adults.

The differences between LGBTQ and straight respondents decreased with age when it comes to saving enough for retirement, with both groups responding “No” in roughly equal numbers (61% for LGBTQ and 59% for heterosexuals).

However, both groups agreed on what produced positive feelings like being in “control” when it comes to money matters: earning more than $100,000 annually, having a post-graduate degree or having a government job.

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