Consumer watchdog: 43% of adults are struggling to make ends meet

family Rick Scuteri/AP

A disconcerting 43% of adults have trouble making ends meet, according to a new survey released Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

In the new survey, 43% of respondents said that they experience difficulty paying their monthly bills.

More than one-third said that they experienced financial hardship within the past year, defined as running out of food, falling short on rent, or not being able to pay for a medical expense.

The results accord with other portraits of adults taken from federal surveys. For instance, a regular survey conducted by the Federal Reserve found this year that 44% of families could not easily come up with $400 to pay an unexpected expense.

In the CFPB survey, more than half of respondents said they could come up with $2,000 in a month if necessary to meet an unexpected expense. In terms of liquid savings, though, nearly a quarter have less than $250 on hand.

The results were based on an Internet survey of more than 6,000 adults selected to be representative of the population.

NOW WATCH: 6 details you might have missed on the season 7 finale of 'Game of Thrones'