Money worries keeping people up at night

NEW YORK, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- What is keeping many Americans up at night is worry over finances, a U.S. survey indicates.

A survey by SleepBetter.org says that 47 percent of Americans cite at least one financial concern as keeping them awake in the past month.

What many people are not worrying about is politics. However, 15 percent to 20 percent say they would sleep worse if either presidential candidate was elected.

Three quarters of Americans say they are not getting enough sleep and 32 percent rate their quality of sleep as good or excellent. Forty-three percent of working Americans have felt the effects of lack of sleep at work.

Those who are likely to suffer from sleep problems are inactive people who exercise once a week or less often, said Dr. Michael Breus, author of "Beauty Sleep: Look Younger, Lose Weight, and Feel Great Through Better Sleep."

Only one-third of Americans usually sleep alone and more than half sleep with a partner or spouse. People who have trouble sleeping are even more likely to buy pillows frequently and 58 percent buy a new one if the pillow is no longer fluffy.

The survey, by an independent consumer research firm, was conducted among 2,000 U.S. men and women has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.