{
  "meta": {
    "slug": "the-pinch",
    "name": "Difficulty Paying Usual Household Expenses",
    "branded_name": "The Pinch",
    "description": null,
    "source": "U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey",
    "source_credit": null,
    "source_url": "https://www.census.gov/data/experimental-data-products/household-pulse-survey.html",
    "frequency": "biweekly",
    "units": "percent",
    "fred_series_id": null,
    "fred_edge_series_id": null,
    "bls_series_id": null,
    "series_id": null,
    "measurement_basis": null,
    "door": 6,
    "trend": "unknown",
    "trend_suppressed": "series_break",
    "series_breaks": [
      {
        "date": "2025-06-25",
        "reason": "The Household Pulse Survey ended in September 2024. Census moved the question into the Household Trends and Outlook Pulse Survey, which followed a panel of the same people and asked about the last two months instead of the last seven days. Readings before and after ask a different question of a different sample.",
        "source_url": "https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/household-pulse-survey/data.html"
      },
      {
        "date": "2026-03-30",
        "reason": "Census went back to a fresh sample for each collection, after following a panel of the same people in 2025. The question still asks about the last two months, but readings before and after sit on different samples.",
        "source_url": "https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2026/demo/hhp/2603.html"
      }
    ],
    "direction": "higher_is_worse",
    "last_updated": "2026-11-04T21:30:35Z",
    "stale": false,
    "stale_reason": null,
    "data_status": "current",
    "page_url": "https://americandefault.org/indicators/the-pinch/",
    "attribution": "American Default (americandefault.org) — Our analysis is free to use with attribution to American Default Research. Source data stays under each publisher's terms; cite the source named here."
  },
  "current": {
    "value": 21.3,
    "date": "2026-08-03"
  },
  "last_verified": null,
  "data": [
    {
      "date": "2020-08-31",
      "value": 31.9
    },
    {
      "date": "2020-09-14",
      "value": 32.7
    },
    {
      "date": "2020-09-28",
      "value": 31.9
    },
    {
      "date": "2020-10-12",
      "value": 32.2
    },
    {
      "date": "2020-10-26",
      "value": 33.1
    },
    {
      "date": "2020-11-09",
      "value": 33.7
    },
    {
      "date": "2020-11-23",
      "value": 34.5
    },
    {
      "date": "2020-12-07",
      "value": 35.6
    },
    {
      "date": "2020-12-21",
      "value": 37.5
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-01-18",
      "value": 35.1
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-02-01",
      "value": 35.4
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-02-15",
      "value": 34.9
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-03-01",
      "value": 34.6
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-03-15",
      "value": 33.8
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-03-29",
      "value": 28.9
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-04-26",
      "value": 26.2
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-05-10",
      "value": 26.7
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-05-24",
      "value": 26.4
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-06-07",
      "value": 27.3
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-06-21",
      "value": 28.3
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-07-05",
      "value": 27.1
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-08-02",
      "value": 27.6
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-08-16",
      "value": 26.7
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-08-30",
      "value": 26.9
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-09-13",
      "value": 27.6
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-09-27",
      "value": 28.2
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-10-11",
      "value": 28.6
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-12-13",
      "value": 30.5
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-01-10",
      "value": 31.3
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-02-07",
      "value": 32.3
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-03-14",
      "value": 34.3
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-04-11",
      "value": 34.1
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-05-09",
      "value": 34.4
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-06-13",
      "value": 39.1
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-07-11",
      "value": 40
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-08-08",
      "value": 40.1
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-09-26",
      "value": 40.1
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-10-17",
      "value": 40.9
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-11-14",
      "value": 39.5
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-12-19",
      "value": 40
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-01-16",
      "value": 39.5
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-02-13",
      "value": 39.7
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-03-13",
      "value": 38.5
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-04-10",
      "value": 38.7
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-05-08",
      "value": 38.5
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-06-19",
      "value": 38.6
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-07-10",
      "value": 37.8
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-08-07",
      "value": 38.9
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-09-04",
      "value": 37.3
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-10-02",
      "value": 41.2
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-10-30",
      "value": 40.8
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-02-05",
      "value": 36
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-03-04",
      "value": 36.2
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-04-01",
      "value": 35.7
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-04-29",
      "value": 36.4
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-05-27",
      "value": 36.5
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-06-24",
      "value": 37
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-07-22",
      "value": 37.4
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-08-19",
      "value": 37.4
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-09-16",
      "value": 37.1
    },
    {
      "date": "2025-06-25",
      "value": 19.8
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-03-30",
      "value": 22.7
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-08-03",
      "value": 21.3
    }
  ]
}