Survey of U.S. Adults at the 100- and 200-day mark of the Trump Administration Raises Concerns About Americans’ Financial, Emotional, Social and Physical Wellbeing
NEW YORK, September 4, 2025 – Penta Group released the results of its inaugural America’s Health Index, a representative survey of U.S. adults, to obtain a pulse on the holistic wellbeing of the nation by measuring how well Americans are doing financially, emotionally, socially and physically.
Americans rate their overall wellbeing as moderately high, ranking themselves on average at 7.55 from a scale of 1 out of 10, with 10 being best. In contrast, when asked direct questions about their activity, feelings and access to resources, the picture is more bleak. This is especially the case for Gen Z (ages 18-29).
“As family members, neighbors, parents, voters and consumers, our wellbeing has an impact on our society, economy and communities,” said Kris Havens, Penta Group Partner and Health Index Architect. “And overall, Americans rate themselves as doing well. Once you dig into the details, however, it’s evident that the majority of Americans are not sleeping, not socializing, not happy and not confident in their financial future.”
To establish a baseline at the 100-day mark of the Trump Administration, Penta fielded a survey of 1,010 respondents in May 2025. The survey was repeated at the 200-day mark in August, with 200 respondents from the first wave and 300 new respondents. Penta segmented participants into more than 20 groups, including age, gender, political ideology, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, household income and parents/non-parents.
“While the U.S. underwent dramatic shifts in political, environmental, and economic conditions, surprisingly the results remained mostly consistent, with the exception of Gen Z,” said Havens. “Happiness ratings and financial confidence, in particular, plummeted. In May, Gen Z identified personal matters, such as social media and family, as the greatest impact to their emotional and mental health, but by August the blame shifted to financial concerns, the economy and world events.
“Overall, inflation and the U.S. economy are heavily impacting Americans – not just bank accounts, but emotional and mental health. We also see a worrying trend that people are coping in isolation, and this stress is taking a toll on them physically. If the pulse of Americans reflects the nation, then the wellbeing of our country is at risk.”
2025 America’s Health Index Key Findings
Unless otherwise stated, the following data points are from the second wave in August.
1) Americans lack confidence in their financial situation, while 1 out of 2 have recently tapped their savings and retirement. Blaming inflation, the self-reported personal financial rating is 6.67 out of 10.
- A mere 18% of adults in August strongly agree to feeling confident in their current and future financial situation.
- Only 1 out of 3 Americans (29%) strongly agree that they can comfortably afford the basic costs of living in their area.
- After paying expenses, 20% strongly agree that they do not have money to spend or save.
- Half of Americans (50%) withdrew money from their savings or retirement in the previous three months.
- Slightly less than half of all parents (46%) strongly agree that they have the resources they need to care for their children and that their child(ren) will have opportunities to be financially successful.
- 9 out of 10 parents (90%) do not strongly agree that the government prioritizes the needs of their child(ren).
- The greatest negative impact on American’s financial wellbeing in the past three months is reported to be inflation (34%) and the U.S. economy (14%).
2) Financial concerns are greatly impacting Americans’ emotional and mental health, with 4 out of 5 not happy most of the time nor excited for the future. The majority are coping in isolation. Yet, the self-reported emotional and mental health rating overall is 7.34 out of 10.
- The greatest negative impact on American’s emotional and mental wellbeing in the past three months is reported to be financial concerns (17%), family issues (13%) and the economy (11%).
- Only 21% of Americans strongly agree to feeling happy most of the time, and 18% strongly agree to feeling excited for the future.
- Slightly less than half (46%) strongly agree that they have at least one close person they can reach out to for help when they are sad or stressed.
- 21% never discussed their personal feelings with others in the past three months.
- 2 out of 3 adults (63%) never spoke with an emotional and mental health professional.
3) Only 2 out of 5 Americans firmly believe they have friends who care about them. The majority are not regularly socializing with others. The self-reported social activity and engagement rating is 6.53 out of 10; the lowest of the four wellbeing indicators.
- Just 38% strongly agree that they have friends who care about them.
- Only one-third of Americans (32%) strongly agree that they regularly spend time with their friends and family.
- 38% strongly agree they regularly communicate with their friends and family.
- More than 1 out of 10 individuals (12%) strongly agree to feeling lonely most of the time or isolated from others (11%).
- In May, where there was a larger segmentation sample size, feeling lonely appears to be more commonly experienced by Gen Z (21%), LGBTQ+ (21%), Black (20%), Millennial (19%), Hispanic (18%) and respondents with income under $50k (18%).
- Hispanic adults who strongly agree to feeling lonely increased 7 points in the second wave (18% to 25%).
- Despite being the summer, 12% of Americans report they have not spent any time in person with friends in the past three months. These are more commonly Black (19%), respondents with income under $50k (19%), Women (16%) and Millennial (15%).
- The greatest negative impact on American’s social activity and engagement in the past three months is reported to be nothing (21%), stress or anxiety (18%) and lack of time (14%).
4) Stress, anxiety and isolation appear to be taking a toll on Americans’ physical health. The vast majority do not confidently feel physically healthy or well rested most of the time. However, the average, self-reported physical health rating is 7.21 out of 10.
- The greatest negative impact on American’s physical health in the past three months is reported to be stress/anxiety (22%), lack of energy (17%) and physical illness or chronic pain (17%).
- Only 27% strongly agree to feeling physically healthy most of the time. Even fewer report exercising for at least 30 minutes everyday (24%).
- 1 out of 4 individuals (27%) report sleeping at least 8 hours everyday in the past three months, while just 20% strongly agree to feeling well rested most of the time.
- 37% of Americans report not having any physical intimacy / sexual intercourse in the past three months.
- While 2 out of 5 Americans (42%) report eating regular, balanced meals everyday in the past three months, about the same percentage (44%) consumed alcohol once a week or more.
- Just 45% strongly agree that they are able to manage their physical health needs, while half (50%) strongly agree to attending regular check-ups and annual appointments for the doctor and 56% strongly agree to taking the medications they need.
- A slight majority of Americans (58%) strongly agree that they have health insurance or a health plan that covers the majority of their healthcare costs.
- Only about 1 out of 2 parents (54%) strongly agree that their child(ren) are physically healthy.
- The same amount strongly agree that their child(ren) are physically safe in their community.
5) Gen Z’s health and wellbeing significantly shifted in the past three months, with their happiness and financial confidence decreasing. However, their self-reported overall wellbeing rating of 7.7 out of 10, which is above the general population average of 7.55.
- In the past three months, Gen Z fell 14 points when reflecting on happiness levels (from 30% strongly agreeing to feeling happy most of the time in May to 16% by August).
- Compared to the general population, a higher percentage of Gen Z strongly agree to feeling stressed or anxious most of the time (23% vs 13% general population).
- In May, Gen Z identified social media (18%), family issues (17%) and financial concerns (15%) as having the greatest impact on their emotional and mental health. But in August, financial concerns (20%), the economy (15%) and world events (11%) rose to the top.
- Gen Z’s confidence in their financial situation decreased 8 points (from 26% to 18%) in the past three months.
- Only 23% strongly agree that they can comfortably afford the basic costs of living in their area; this is an 8-point drop since May.
- Compared to the general population, Gen Z are more worried about being able to pay for their expenses (19% vs 13% general population), more stressed or anxious about their finances most of the time (23% vs 16%) and more embarrassed about their current financial situation (23% vs 15%).
- The greatest negative impact on Gen Z’s financial health in August is reported to be inflation (23%), the U.S. economy (20%), education costs (12%) and personal employment status (12%).
- While the youngest of the general adult population, only 30% of Gen Z strongly agree to feeling physically healthy most of the time.
- Just one-third of Gen Z (33%) strongly agree that they are able to manage their physical health needs; 12 points lower than the general population.
- 2 out of 5 Gen Z (40%) strongly agree that they have health insurance or a health plan that covers the majority of their healthcare costs; 18 points lower than the general population.
Survey Methodology
The instrument was written and administered by Penta Group’s Custom Research, an independent research firm. The first wave was conducted online from May 2 through May 12, 2025, among a nationally representative sample of 1,010 U.S. adults. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points for the full survey sample and higher among subgroups. The second wave was conducted online from August 12 through August 17, 2025, among a nationally representative sample of 500 U.S. adults, and included 203 respondents who also completed the first wave. The margin of error is ±4.4 percentage points for the full survey sample and higher among subgroups.