2024 American Perspectives Survey - Chicago

• Forty-seven percent of Chicagoans are optimistic about their personal financial situation over the coming year compared to just 25% who are not.
• However, Chicagoans are less optimistic about the U.S. economy in the coming year. Only 34% are optimistic, compared to 39% who are not.
• Chicagoans are slightly less optimistic across the board than Americans nationwide. Chicagoans are seven percentage points less optimistic on their personal financial situation and three percentage points less optimistic on their outlook for the U.S. economy.
• However, the gap is much larger when looking at expectations on disposable income. Chicagoans are equally likely to be optimistic (37%) or not optimistic (37%) about their disposable income over the next year. Nationwide, more people are optimistic about their disposable income (44% optimistic vs. 32% not optimistic).
  
• People in Chicago plan to do more discount shopping (68%) in the next year and 17% plan to use more buy now, pay later services. Discount shoppers are found across the income spectrum, with 77% of households earning $25,000-$34,999 and $100,000-$149,999 seeking discounts. Intentions to utilize buy now, pay later services were also found across the income spectrum, including 28% of Chicagoans earning $25,000-$35,000 and 21% of those earning $200,000 or more.
  
• While all generations are hunting for discounts (68%) and want to do more in-person shopping (29%), Gen Z is focusing on shopping with sustainability in mind even if it means higher prices (36% compared with 19% overall). 

• People in Chicago are comfortable experimenting with GenAI and are finding ways to implement it in personal and professional settings.
• Roughly 40% of Chicagoans report that GenAI is having at least a somewhat significant impact on their day-to-day personal lives. Meanwhile, one in four Chicagoans expect to use GenAI for work at least once a week in the coming year.
• More than half of Chicagoans (53%) say they employ GenAI for personal uses. The most common use case is asking questions as they would in a search engine (33%), followed by asking advice or getting reviews (23%).
• There are differences among generations. For example, 38% of Gen Z Chicagoans say they use GenAI for writing or editing assistance, compared to only 14% of boomers in Chicago and 22% overall.
  
• While Chicagoans are clearly leaning into GenAI, 73% agree GenAI poses a threat to the credibility of online information. 
  

Banking:

• In Chicago, over 40% of people are willing to take GenAI advice from their bank as it relates to credit card choices and budgeting. However, they are less willing to do so when it comes to mortgages (30%), life insurance options (32%), auto loans (33%) and investment advice (28%).
• Fifty-two percent are worried about a cybersecurity breach at their bank and the risk of such an event compromising their personal information.
• Comfort level also varies greatly among generations as 61% of Gen Z and 54% of millennials in Chicago are comfortable with GenAI budgeting advice from their bank, compared to just 39% of Gen X and 29% of boomers.

Healthcare:

• People in Chicago see the upside of GenAI in healthcare when it comes to productivity. Half (50%) believe it will improve the consumer experience enhancing telehealth, helping schedule appointments and refilling prescriptions, and 35% believe it will increase efficiency by streamlining administrative tasks.
• However, they have concerns about the lack of human interaction and empathy (61%) when using GenAI in healthcare, the reliability and accuracy of AI-generated diagnoses (56%) and privacy and security of personal health data (53%), with women being more concerned than men across the board.

Government services:

• Fewer people in Chicago feel government agencies are adequately leveraging technology to improve their services (27%) compared with the national average (30%).
• Chicagoans say it is important for the government to use GenAI for services such as healthcare benefits (61%), the DMV (60%) and Social Security (55%) to improve their experience.
  

• Chicagoans express the most comfort with renewables (65%) as a power source for their utility’s electricity generation, but only 22% would choose to purchase an EV if all price points and features were on par compared to a standard gas-powered (33%) or hybrid vehicle (35%).
• There are some generational differences. Gen Z (34%) and millennials (27%) in Chicago are more interested in purchasing EVs, and Gen X (38%) and boomers (42%) are more interested in purchasing hybrid vehicles.
• In terms of cost, 56% of Chicagoans believe renewable energy will reduce cost, significantly more so than nuclear energy (38%), fossil fuels (19%) and hydrogen (22%). 
  

• Just 29% of people in Chicago believe GLP-1s are not important to them personally.
• Of Chicagoans who view GLP-1s as potentially important to them personally, 30% believe taking GLP-1 drugs would improve their quality of life by helping with overall health, significant weight loss or a specific health issue. Another 23% view them as too risky, and 23% believe the benefits are difficult to predict.
• Most people (74%) would not be willing to pay out of pocket for GLP-1s, and only 16% would be willing to pay higher insurance premiums for coverage.