America’s teachers are struggling to make ends meet, and the classroom is paying the price

Teaching has long been described as a calling, a profession sustained by commitment, patience, and the belief that shaping young minds is its own reward. Yet for a growing number of teachers in the United States, the idealism that once defined the profession is increasingly colliding with a more mundane reality: the cost of living.

A recent report by the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup, titled “Staying Power: What It Takes to Make Teaching Affordable and Sustainable,” offers a revealing snapshot of how teachers are navigating that tension. Based on a probability-based survey conducted between October 16 and November 5, 2025, among more than 2,000 K–12 teachers across the country, the study suggests that financial pressure has become a defining undercurrent of the profession.

The findings are difficult to ignore. Twenty-one percent of teachers say they are finding it difficult to get by on their present household income, while 52% say they are just getting by. Only 28% report living comfortably. In effect, nearly three-quarters of the country’s educators describe their financial footing as anything but secure.

For a profession entrusted with preparing the next generation, the numbers raise an uncomfortable question: What happens when the people responsible for nurturing the future are themselves struggling to maintain financial stability?

The rise of the second job

One visible response to that pressure has been the steady normalisation of the teacher side job. The report notes that one-third of teachers held a second job unrelated to education over the past year, work that ranges from driving for ride-sharing platforms to taking shifts in food service or managing small side businesses.

The trend is most pronounced among teachers already under financial strain. According to the Walton Family Foundation–Gallup analysis, 46% of teachers who say they are struggling financially report having a second job outside education, compared with 22% among those who say they are living comfortably.

Additional work tied to teaching, coaching school teams, tutoring students, or leading after-school programmes has long been part of the profession. Indeed, 62% of teachers report taking on extra work related to education. But the expansion of non-teaching side jobs signals something different: for many educators, the extra work is less about professional enrichment and more about economic necessity.

Equally striking is when this work happens. The popular notion that teachers pick up summer jobs during school breaks appears outdated. Eighty-five percent of teachers with a second job say they work those roles at least partly during the school year, leaving only 15% who limit the work exclusively to school holidays.

In other words, the side job has increasingly become a year-round obligation.

When extra work begins to show

The consequences inevitably spill back into the classroom. The report suggests that the type of second job matters.

Teachers who take on additional work related to education often see benefits. Forty percent of educators with teaching-related side jobs say the experience actually improves their classroom work, perhaps because coaching or tutoring keeps them engaged with students in different ways.

But the picture shifts when the second job lies outside education. Thirty-four percent of teachers with non-teaching side jobs say the additional work negatively affects their teaching responsibilities. The figure drops to 20% among those whose second jobs are strictly related to education.

The distinction highlights an eye-watering reality: professional extension can strengthen teaching, but economic compulsion can stretch teachers thin.

Burnout beyond workload

Financial strain also appears closely tied to teacher burnout, an issue that has dominated education policy debates in recent years.

Among teachers who say they are struggling financially, 52% report feeling burned out very often or always, according to the report. By contrast, 34% of those living comfortably report the same level of burnout.

Interestingly, when researchers accounted for income levels, burnout rates showed little difference between teachers who had second jobs and those who did not. The implication is significant. It suggests that the emotional fatigue often attributed to workload may in fact be rooted partly in something more fundamental: financial insecurity.

For teachers already managing crowded classrooms, administrative demands and heightened expectations from parents and policymakers, the stress of economic uncertainty becomes an additional weight.

The question of staying power

Perhaps the most worrying insight from the report concerns teachers’ long-term commitment to the profession. Only 49% of teachers who say they are struggling financially expect to remain classroom teachers for the rest of their careers, compared with 63% among those who say they are living comfortably.

The outlook becomes even more uncertain for teachers who are both financially strained and juggling second jobs. In that group, just 44% say they plan to remain in classroom teaching long term.

At a time when many school districts are already grappling with staffing shortages, these numbers hint at a deeper structural problem. Retaining teachers may depend not only on professional support or training opportunities but also on whether teaching can provide a stable and sustainable livelihood.

A system at a crossroads

The Walton Family Foundation–Gallup report stops short of prescribing a single remedy, but its conclusions point toward a broader rethink of how the profession is structured.

Teachers, the report suggests, may increasingly seek career pathways that allow income growth while remaining in classroom roles, rather than being forced to leave teaching for administrative positions or entirely different careers.

It is a challenge that goes beyond salaries alone. It touches on how societies value education, how governments prioritise public investment, and how school systems balance expectations with the realities teachers face.

For now, the classroom lights remain on, and millions of teachers continue to show up each morning ready to teach. But behind many of those desks is a quieter calculation, one that weighs passion for the profession against the practical demands of making a living.

And as the report subtly reminds policymakers, the future of education may depend on whether those two things can still coexist.
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