Forty percent of employees are living paycheck to paycheck, marking a decrease from 42% in 2011 and 46% in 2008 when the recession first hit, according to a new CareerBuilder survey.

Of the respondents who are living paycheck to paycheck, 53% report not doing so until 2008. Another 37% of respondents say they sometimes live paycheck to paycheck, and 23% of respondent say they never do. At least on one occasion last year, 20% of respondents could not make ends meet.

Out of the respondents making $100,000 per year or more, only 12% always or usually live paycheck to paycheck, a decrease from 14% in 2011 and 17% in 2010.

“Making ends meet remains a challenge for millions of households, but the situation has improved for workers who've grown more confident with their job security or who've taken steps to pay down debt and save more,” says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder.

“Seventy-two percent of workers report they are more fiscally responsible since the end of the recession, and as the labor market continues to improve, we expect more workers will again be able to spend in ways that will drive the economy forward,” Haefner said.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents say they have reduced leisure activities since the beginning of the recession; however, respondents say there are some expenses that are too important to cut, including Internet connection at 57%, driving at 44%, pets at 39%, cable television at 29% and mobile phones at 24%.  

While 27% of respondents report not saving for retirement each month, 30% of respondents save at least $250, and 10% of respondents save more than $1,000 each month. Another 67% of respondents say they contribute to 401(k), IRA or comparable retirement plans, which is near 2011's figure at 66%, and 20% of respondents report cutting their contributions to these plans over the last year. This remains nearly unchanged from 2011 at 21%, as well.

Women at 44% are more likely than men at 36% to live paycheck to paycheck. In fact, 25% of female respondents skipped at least one monthly payment in the last year as opposed to 17% of male respondents.

Among the various age groups, respondents closer to retirement are least likely to live paycheck to paycheck at 34%. Meanwhile, the likeliness of other age groups living paycheck to paycheck are ages 18-34 at 40, ages 35-44 at 42% and ages 45-54 at 43%. 

This article was originally posted at BenefitsPro.com, a sister site of Credit Union Times.