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1 in 7 Americans Lose Sleep Over Politics, Survey Finds

Younger baby boomers are the most likely age group to toss and turn over political worries

Weary guests wait for President Donald Trump to address the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort in Oxon Hill, Md., on Feb. 23. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Weary guests wait for President Donald Trump to address the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort in Oxon Hill, Md., on Feb. 23. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Suffering from insomnia? Here’s a quick cure: stop caring about politics so much. 

A new study shows that one in seven Americans are so riled up about politics that they’re losing sleep over it, according to a survey conducted for Bankrate.com. That adds up to 34 million people, more than those who lose sleep over health care costs or paying rent.

The more education and money Americans have, the more they lie awake over political worries, the survey found. Twenty percent of those with a college degree said politics made them toss and turn, compared to just 9 percent of those without one.

Sixteen percent of those making $75,000 or more stressed about politics, while only 7 percent of those making under $30,000 said they do.

Those on the coasts care about politics the most. Seventeen percent of those who live out West said they lost sleep over politics, while 16 percent of those who live in the Northeast and 9 percent of Southerners said the same. 

Younger baby boomers, aged 54 to 63, are the most likely age group to lose sleep over politics.

Research firm GfK Custom Research polled 1,000 Americans on behalf of Bankrate.com from June 29 to July 1 to figure out what’s keeping them up at night. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Survey respondents could choose from relationships, money, work, health and politics as reasons for their stress, and could select more than one option. Relationships were the biggest stressor at 41 percent, followed by money at 36 percent.

Older millennials were the most likely to lose sleep in general. More than three-quarters of Americans aged 28 to 37 lie awake in bed while their minds run amok, the survey found. 

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