Many workers live paycheck to paycheck: survey

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four out of 10 U.S. workers often or always live from paycheck to paycheck, according to a survey released on Monday.

Women are more likely to live paycheck to paycheck, at 47 percent, than men, at 36 percent, according to the survey conducted for CareerBuilder.com, an online job site based in Chicago. Overall, 41 percent of workers say they often or always live paycheck to paycheck, it said.

Also, 41 percent of women say they do not have enough income to live comfortably, compared with 29 percent of men.

U.S. government and other research reports have found that women earn about 77 cents for every dollar earned by men for comparable work. Women are also more likely to be single parents.

The new survey said 19 percent of workers who earn $100,000 or more annually often or always live paycheck to paycheck.

It found 58 percent of respondents report they set a budget each month. But one in five say they typically spend more than their budget, most often blowing it by eating out.

The survey also said one in five do not set aside any money for savings each month. Of those who do, 14 percent save $500 or more a month, 28 percent save $100 or less and 16 percent save less than $50.

It said 26 percent of women do not set aside any savings, compared with 17 percent of men.

The survey of 6,169 full-time adult workers was conducted between November 17 and December 11, 2006 by Harris Interactive and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point.

CareerBuilder.com is owned by Gannett Co Inc, Tribune Co and The McClatchy Co.