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In a nutshell
- 64% of Americans experience math anxiety, with middle school being the most common time for onset (34%), and women reporting higher rates (70%) than men (57%).
- Math anxiety creates real barriers in life, with 47% saying it has held them back at work or school, and 37% reporting it interferes with financial decisions.
- Digital tools like YouTube (40%), AI assistants (28%), and games (18%) are helping people overcome math anxiety, while 70% believe math education needs to focus more on real-world applications.
TORONTO — That knot in your stomach when facing a math problem isn’t just in your head. For millions of Americans, it’s a real phenomenon with serious consequences.
A nationwide study by Prodigy Education reveals that 64% of Americans suffer from math anxiety, with 13% rating their symptoms as severe. This isn’t just about feeling uncomfortable during math class—it’s affecting jobs, money decisions, and even how parents help their kids with homework.
The Real Cost of Math Anxiety
Math anxiety typically starts young and sticks around. Middle school is the prime time for math fears to take hold (34%), with elementary school (23%) and high school (31%) close behind. Women experience math anxiety more frequently than men—70% compared to 57%.
What exactly triggers these math fears? The top culprits include:
- Fear of failing (53%)
- Not understanding math concepts (48%)
- Struggling with basic calculations (46%)
- Teaching methods that don’t match learning styles (45%)
These math fears follow people into adulthood, creating real barriers. Nearly half of Americans (47%) say math anxiety has held them back at work or school. One in five report losing job opportunities because they lacked math skills or were too anxious about numbers.
Gen Z is particularly affected—62% say math anxiety has created roadblocks in their education or careers. In a job market demanding technical know-how, math anxiety functions as an invisible tax on career growth.
The damage extends to personal finances too. Over a third of Americans (37%) admit that math anxiety interferes with their ability to make smart money decisions, including basic tasks like budgeting and investing.
Fighting Back Against Number Fear
As more people recognize math anxiety, they’re finding creative solutions. Digital tools lead the way, with 40% of Americans turning to YouTube tutorials when they hit a math wall. Other popular math lifelines include AI tools like ChatGPT (28%), apps (28%), and tutoring (28%).
For everyday calculations, calculators remain essential (82% use them), but newer technologies are gaining ground—31% now use AI tools for math tasks, 23% use budgeting apps, and 18% use math-based games. These digital helpers do more than solve problems—they boost confidence, with 39% of Americans feeling more capable tackling math with these tools.
When Math Homework Becomes a Family Problem
Math anxiety becomes a family issue when kids need homework help. One in four parents feels unprepared to help their children with math, and one in ten feels anxious when their children ask for assistance.
Parents are getting creative with solutions:
- 51% try to help despite their own anxiety
- 47% call in another family member
- 35% use apps or specialized math tools
- 32% direct kids to online resources
- 20% turn to ChatGPT for answers
This pattern shows how math anxiety can be passed down through generations, creating a cycle that’s difficult to break.
Reinventing Math Education
Thankfully, Americans have strong opinions about improving math education. Seven in 10 respondents agree that current math curricula fail to prepare students for real-world applications.
The math skills Americans find most useful in daily life are basic arithmetic (76%), percentages (69%), and fractions (55%). If they could design new math courses to reduce anxiety, they’d focus on practical skills like financial literacy (79%), taxes and money management (76%), and everyday data analysis (54%).
The study found that 62% of Americans would have been more interested in learning math if their schools had used game-based learning approaches. Making math more engaging and relevant could be key to reducing anxiety for future generations.
Methodology: Prodigy Education surveyed 1,004 Americans in November 2024, including Gen Z (18%), millennials (50%), Gen X (26%), and baby boomers (7%).
The only thing I ever used was geometry when I was nailing sheetrock on the underside of a spiral staircase where every stair was different by drawing between the sides holding the tape measure like a protractor.