economic hardship
Tough monetary times
Economic hardship is a state of financial difficulty that makes meeting basic needs a struggle.
The phrase appears in policy discussions, loan applications, and news coverage: The pandemic caused widespread economic hardship.
It suggests more than temporary inconvenience—sustained pressure from unemployment, debt, medical bills, or insufficient income that strains a household's ability to pay for housing, food, or utilities.
- homelessnessLacking permanent residence
- povertySevere lack of resources
- hard timesPeriod of difficulty
- breadlineQueue for free food
- soup kitchenFacility feeding the poor
unemployment · job loss · inflation · food insecurity · social welfare programs · foreclosure · falling behind · wage stagnation · income inequality · desperation · working poor · eviction · safety net · debt · bankruptcy · financial ruin · deprivation · marginalization
- labor fictionfactory workers, labor strikes, labor movement, working class, labor
- Rust BeltDetroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Gary, Youngstown
- Black BeltAlabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina
- demographicspopulation density, population growth, age distribution, population, gender ratio
- laborlabor, labor union, work, labor force, laborers
- povertypoverty line, poor, poverty rate, impoverished, generational poverty
economic hardshipprosperity
Good fortune, success
affluence · wealth · economic prosperity · financial security · plenty
economic hardshipcomfort
Ease or soothing relief
ease · luxury · good times · the good life · easy street