Forty percent of employees are living paycheck to paycheck,marking a decrease from 42% in 2011 and 46% in 2008 when therecession 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 theysometimes live paycheck to paycheck, and 23% of respondent say theynever do. At least on one occasion last year, 20% of respondentscould not make ends meet.

Out of the respondents making $100,000 per year or more, only12% always or usually live paycheck to paycheck, a decrease from14% in 2011 and 17% in 2010.

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

“Seventy-two percent of workers report they are more fiscallyresponsible since the end of the recession, and as the labor marketcontinues to improve, we expect more workers will again be able tospend in ways that will drive the economy forward,” Haefnersaid.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents say they have reduced leisureactivities since the beginning of the recession; however,respondents say there are some expenses that are too important tocut, including Internet connection at 57%, driving at 44%, pets at39%, cable television at 29% and mobile phones at 24%.

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

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

Among the various age groups, respondents closer to retirementare least likely to live paycheck to paycheck at 34%. Meanwhile,the likeliness of other age groups living paycheck to paycheck areages 18-34 at 40, ages 35-44 at 42% and ages 45-54 at43%.

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