Grocery prices are up, and older Americans are most concerned

The Ipsos Consumer Tracker asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.

In the latest Ipsos Consumer Tracker, a majority of Americans say they’ve encountered higher prices across grocery categories, from fresh produce to meat and dairy. You can chalk that up to inflation, tariffs, bird flu, or all of the above. 

But this data also reveals an interesting twist: The older Americans are, the more likely they are to say that these grocery staples are more expensive than they were last year. 

That holds true across grocery categories. 71% of Americans aged 18 to 34 say they’re paying more for meat, compared with 90% of those over 55 — a 19-point gap. When asked about their total grocery bill, there’s a 26-point gap between the youngest and oldest Americans. 

Older Americans are also markedly more pessimistic on what comes next. 18- to 34-year-olds were about three times as likely as those over 55 to think prices will go down within the next five months. Meanwhile, Americans 55+ are twice as likely as those aged 18 to 34 to think prices won’t go back down at all, full stop. 

That datapoint alone should get grocers and CPG brands thinking, says Wendy Wallner, Executive Vice President and Client Officer, Retail and Restaurant Sectors, Ipsos. 

“The fact that younger consumers are more optimistic that prices will decrease suggests that their strategies might change as the situation changes. Right now, they may be holding off on purchases with the expectation that prices will eventually be lower — while older consumers may adopt a long-term cost-cutting strategy, whether by trading down to lower-priced brands or only buying on sale,” Wallner says. 

But what makes this distribution of attitudes even more interesting is that it doesn’t appear in the other demographics where we might expect it. 

Parents, who we could reasonably assume to have particularly crunched budgets, reported price hikes at nearly the same rates as non-parents. Low-income and high-earning Americans, for that matter, also had relatively similar perceptions of grocery prices. Those with a household income under $50k were actually less likely than the highest earners to say that they’ve encountered higher prices. 

So why is age more strongly linked with the perception of higher prices than, say, income?  

Back in November, I noted that Americans aged 18 to 34 were both twice as likely as those 55+ to describe their economic situation as “extremely uncomfortable” (14% to 6%), and twice as likely as those 55+ (41% to 21%) to say they were more confident about their ability to pay their bills after Trump’s win.

Today, the youngest and oldest Americans say they have similar levels of confidence about their personal economic situation. But that’s because of a 23-point nosedive in confidence among Americans 55+ over the last three months.  

Given that older Americans are more likely to own stocks, they may feel more vulnerable to market volatility and all-around economic uncertainty. And that’s not to mention the fear of threats to Medicare and Social Security.

But it’s not just about big-picture worst-case scenarios. Older Americans (i.e. retirees) are more likely to rely on fixed incomes, as Ipsos’ Matt Carmichael notes, which could encourage them to pay closer attention to their budgets. Americans earlier in their lives and careers might toss their receipts sight unseen.

There’s also the impact of shifts in the information landscape. “While the inflation has slowed, the last few years of rising prices and shrinking wallets — combined with media coverage and politicization — have made shoppers more aware of price increases,” says Zach Sanders, Vice President & U.S. Lead of Channel Optimization, Ipsos. 

“In our work with businesses, we see brand expectations vary by age. Manufacturers and strategists need to keep this in mind,” adds Brad Christian, Senior Vice President, Strategic Growth at Ipsos.

This is all a strong reminder, then, that Americans’ personal circumstances can have a complex relationship with their spending behavior. 

Gen Z shoppers may be tomorrow’s customers — but in most sectors, Gen X and Boomers still outspend them. 

That means that to find and maintain growth, brands will need to understand the different ways different cohorts spend, today and tomorrow. 

More insights from this wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker:

Americans are feeling much less confident about their economic status

It's not just eggs: Americans feel prices are higher on most goods

Many Americans are losing faith in the safety of air travel

Republicans and independents are feeling more threatened

The Ipsos Care-o-Meter: What does America know about vs. what does America care about