Latest Operation HOPE Research Shows Increasing Concern About the Economy and Impact of Inflation in the First Quarter of 2024
ATLANTA , April 30 /Businesswire/ - Operation HOPE, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping low- and moderate-income Americans thrive in an ever-changing economy, today announced the first-quarter 2024 results of The HOPE Insider, a comprehensive nationwide client survey, revealing that despite increasing concern about the economy since the end of last year, Operation HOPE clients that receive financial literacy and support services remain optimistic about their personal financial well-being.
This is the second iteration of The HOPE Insider survey, which was first conducted in November of last year. This latest survey, conducted by Operation HOPE’s research team last month, was sent to Operation HOPE’s client base of adults, small business owners, and entrepreneurs who have sought the organization’s financial wellness services. More than 3,500 Operation HOPE clients responded, providing key insights into American financial sentiment relating to housing, debt, small business ownership, work and general economic optimism, as Americans navigate the complex challenges of the current economic climate. The quarterly survey tracks overall trends, with additional questions to reflect timely issues. Its goal is to gather a broad-based understanding of the sentiment of Operation HOPE clients on a regular basis to better support their needs and to serve as an indicator of the real-time financial and economic concerns of the American public.
Among the key survey findings are:
Impact of inflation increasingly continues to be felt – forcing a reliance on savings and credit:
Debt still drives uncertainty
Affordable housing remains elusive
Hope prevails, with guidance
The value of financial wellness coaching and support is also echoed through HOPE’s year-to-date 2024 impact report, showing that through Operation HOPE’s services, clients have experienced an average increase of 41 points in credit scores (of those who saw improvement), a median decrease in debt of $1,892, and a median increase in savings of $1,116.
The HOPE Insider Survey solicited responses from all current and former clients in Operation HOPE’s database via email between March 11 and March 24, 2024. The survey features a diverse representative set with respondents from all adult age ranges, ethnicities, genders, and household incomes across the U.S.
About Operation HOPE, Inc.
Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "silver rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved. Through its community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $4.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities—turning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. For more information: OperationHOPE.org. Follow the HOPE conversation on X.
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