America's Poor Twice As Likely To Say U.S. Is In A Depression: Gallup

The recession might have officially ended last year. But to many of America's poorest citizens, the economy certainly feels like depression.

According to a new poll by Gallup, 55 percent of Americans believe the United States is currently in either a recession or a depression. Specifically, 26 percent think the U.S. is currently in a recession and 29 percent think it's in a depression.

How Americans feel about the economy is most stark, though, when divided by income group. Of those currently earning $75,000 or more, 31 percent say the U.S. economy is growing, while only 23 percent say the U.S. is currently dealing with a depression.

Among those earning less than $30,000, only 21 percent say the economy is growing, while 46 percent say the U.S. is in a recession -- more than double the percentage answered by the richer group.

The division over whether this is a recovery or a depression is also noticeable when broken down by political party, with 18 percent of Democrats saying the U.S is in a depression, compared to 35 percent of Republicans, 35 percent of Tea Partiers and 34 percent of Independents.

Officially, the recession ended on September 20, 2010, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, an independent group that tracks recessions and recoveries. But with a tepid job market recovery and housing prices continuing to drop, many Americans apparently disagree with the technical definition of a "recession."

Perhaps the reason for the pessimism among America's poor, Gallup postulates, is that inflation in the form or higher gas and food prices has cut into the pockets of poor Americans before a widespread jobs recovery. With corporate profits hitting record highs, on the other hand, America's rich, who are more likely to own stock, are more likely to feel the benefits of this recovery.

On Monday, Gallup released another poll indicating that 44 percent of Americans believe it's very or somewhat likely that "today's youth will have a better life than their parents," the lowest level since data was first collected in 1983.

But it was the the poor and young, that were most optimistic about the future, with 57 percent those 18 to 29 years old and 52 percent of those making less than $30,000 per year placing their faith in the future. Only 34 percent of those 50 to 64 years old and 37 percent of those making over $75,000 said the same.

Comments

[trobts]

08:11 AM on 05/04/2011

You spend your life playing by the rules, working hard, scratching your way to the top with experience to find out the rules change ... whoever thought being 50 or older would find you at the bottom AGAIN with no job in sight (because you are too old). YET the GOP raises the retirement age every chance they get and wants to obliterate SS/Medicare. How do people survive from 50 to 70 with no prospects for employment? I wish politicians had an answer to that question.

[ehorth]

02:12 PM on 05/04/2011

Excellent question and absolutely right on. Regarding retirement age, yes, the GOP (and others) keep wanting to raise it, yet at the same time we're being told that in order for post college age people to find work it "makes sense" to retire earlier thus opening up jobs for the new generation. Then we have the additional irony that science keeps making advances to increase not only our longevity but also our capacity to keep functioning mentally. So, we will have to figure out how we are going to support ourselves for another 40 or 50 years if we are easily living to 90 or 100, or even beyond. We are going to have to come up with whole new paradigms for our society to make sure we don't throw the older half of ourselves away just to languish for lack of services or money once we turn 50.

[menthol]

02:05 AM on 05/04/2011

you don't need a poll to figure that out!

[nkurland]

01:00 AM on 05/04/2011

The poor are more likely to be saddled with subprime mortgages. The poor are made up disproportionately of minorities (the unemployment rate for young black males in inner cities is at 50%). They're certain not to have a college degree (unemployment is well under 5% for college graduates). They're more likely to have employer provided health insurance with high deductibles and premiums (assuming they have any at all).

Those factors above all pose a significant challenge for any low income American that wants to get out of poverty in a boom economy. Needless to say, they've all been drastically exacerbated by the recession. It would be more accurate to say a larger portion of low income Americans are feeling the effects of the downturn, rather than trying to play it off as mere opinion.

[dgoose50]

11:14 PM on 05/03/2011

For many, the American dream has turned into a nightmare.I'll never forget my father told me about the first Depression and warned me that it would happen again.The main thing that has changed today, is this money printed has no backing in metal and prices reflect the weakness of the dollar.

[wdw808]

12:40 AM on 05/04/2011

i have no nightmares

[spinotter11]

08:03 AM on 05/04/2011

You evaluate the entire economy exclusively with reference to your own personal situation? Do you know the word solipsism? If not, please look it up. And do you think you could grow a heart?

[ehorth]

02:14 PM on 05/04/2011

Well good for you.

Now, on to the rest of us...

[OldTulsan]

05:22 PM on 05/03/2011

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/heading_south_u.s.-mexico_trade_and_job_displacement_after_nafta1
Heading South: U.S.-Mexico trade and job displacement after NAFTA

"As of 2010, U.S. trade deficits with Mexico totaling $97.2 billion had displaced 682,900 U.S. jobs. Of those jobs, 116,400 are likely economy-wide job losses because they were displaced between 2007 and 2010, when the U.S. labor market was severely depressed.

Prominent economists and U.S. government officials predicted that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would lead to growing trade surpluses with Mexico and that hundreds of thousands of jobs would be gained (Hufbauer and Schott 1993; President Clinton 1993). The evidence shows that the predicted surpluses in the wake of NAFTA’s enactment in 1994 did not materialize, for reasons outlined in this briefing paper. However, congressional leaders and administration officials now make nearly identical claims about export growth and job creation under the proposed U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA).

Abstract promises about increased jobs and exports misrepresent the real overall effects of trade on the U.S. economy. Trade both creates and destroys jobs. While exports tend to support domestic employment, imports lead to job displacement: As imports are substituted for domestically produced goods, production that supports domestic jobs falls, displacing existing jobs and preventing new job creation..."

[baybeebluz]

04:51 PM on 05/03/2011

I agree with the poll that today's youth will not have a better life than their parents. Sure people say you can live the American dream. However, they want to strip you of it the moment you realize that dream.

[sking007]

03:56 PM on 05/03/2011

The objective of this story is like asking a homeless man if he feels like he's homeless. But according to National Bureau of Economic Research if you have more than one cardboard box an old newspaper and a shopping cart you are not technically homeless. (sarcasim intended).

[dgoose50]

10:52 AM on 05/04/2011

Didn't Donald T. Duck say that lol ....Fan

[demilieu]

03:15 PM on 05/03/2011

It can be depressing to be poor...

[aosborneh2o]

01:35 PM on 05/03/2011

And they would be 100% right. For the middle class and poor, we're in a depression as bad as any. For the wealthy, the US has never seen better times. It's all about perspective.

Unfortunately, the wealthy has done exactly what many scifi stories do - they have created a "Lottery" mentality to control the lower classes. They make them believe despite the overwhelming odds against it, that they may become party of the wealthy, privileged class at any time. The America Dream has been taken over and perverted into a scratch ticket...

[spinotter11]

04:59 PM on 05/03/2011

If the "lower classes" are so easy to control, then more power to the controllers. It takes two to tango and it take two to operate a scam. The citizenry of the United States of America is responsible for their government and thus for the corporations that call the USA home. Apportion appropriate quantities of blame to the "lower classes" who are bowing their heads and allowing themselves to be fleeced, as well as to their controllers.

[Kimiko Austin-Rijs]

04:03 AM on 05/04/2011

The lower and middle class have no power to "allow" themselves to be anything. Wall Street and Corporations own the politicians and pay plenty of money to their campaigns to influence their vote. What can poor people do about that, when these smooth criminals know just what to say and what NOT to say to endear themselves to the people whose vote they need? I get tired of people laying all the responsibility for any part of our suffering on the poor for being naive enough to BELIEVE actually what they are told. We have been lied to for years now about how things actually work and it is not a real democracy in any sense of the word.

The real reason that so many people do not vote is because they feel like their votes don't count. They feel that no matter who they vote for they will not be adequately represented and that has been true for the most part. I hold POLITICIANS responsible for this loss of faith by the people.

[aosborneh2o]

08:08 AM on 05/04/2011

Saying it takes two in this case is like saying that the old lady who was mugged by a thief carrying a gun was complicit in the crime. How many congressmen/women do you know that were elected to office at a cost under $1MM? Now, how representative is that of the ability of an average American to elicit positive change, or even challeneg negative change? The powerful have been creating the lottery scenario for over 50 years; look at Vegas, then Atlantic City, and now a casino on every corner. Look at how ethics have been perverted over the years where I can't give my child's teacher a $10 gift certificate for the simply amazing work she does, but handing out $100K+ lobbyist checks on the floor of congress doesn't get a second look.

The wealthy have re-framed the American Dream in their image. The American Dream used to be that each kid would do a little better than his/her parents; it was very realistic and attainable. The new dream is to be an overnight billionaire; both unrealistic and unattainable by the vast, vast majority. The old dream didn't exclude the possibility of enormous success, but it was grounded in reality. This is a huge part of the lottery mentality and why many people over and over vote against their best interests.

Now, if only they can solve that Camel-Needle dilemma, all will be perfect for the wealthy in America...

[Retrofuturistic]

12:00 PM on 05/03/2011

The top one percent that has all the money (and controls the media and the government) is doing fine. The rest of us are in a depression....

[wdw808]

11:49 AM on 05/03/2011

another meaningless poll........as they did not poll only voters

[Hpotterfan77]

12:33 PM on 05/03/2011

What?

[wdw808]

12:39 PM on 05/03/2011

was it too complex for you when i post the concept of "the only polls that carry any weight are that of voters"

laughing

[frank day]

08:11 AM on 05/03/2011

Welcome to the new normal.

Financial guru Suze Orman says we need to find a new american dream.

Dreams are all we have left.

[wdw808]

11:50 AM on 05/03/2011

well good........then dream on

[spinotter11]

05:05 PM on 05/03/2011

Touché, wdw808. The American dream was an illusion from the very beginning, in my judgment. Every inhabitant of the world shares the same dream: to lead as happy a life as possible. Nothing American about that. We would be a lot happier if we called it the human dream. It might even mean that we viewed ourselves as equal members of the human race with all the other inhabitants of the world.

[April22]

07:44 AM on 05/03/2011

The more goes to the top, the more depressed at the bottom.

Our government want us all to believe that we have reached a point where all will be well, sooner or later.

Unfortunately, for many Americans, forgotten and ignored, the upswing has not arrived in their neighborhood, as yet.

[Indigo1941]

06:54 AM on 05/03/2011

It's about what we already knew: If your neighbor is out of work, it's a recession: if you're out of work, it's a depression. And nowadays, if you're doing well, it seems you're also going socially blind.

[Kimiko Austin-Rijs]

06:09 AM on 05/03/2011

The US is living in a depression. The only people that believe that we have actually pulled out of the recession/depression are those that are living with the benefits. Of course those that are still suffering are not going to see this as a "positive" thing when it isn't for them. It is a waste of money to do stupid polls to point out the obvious. It is a slap in the face of the American people to blatently call them liars like this.

[spinotter11]

05:22 PM on 05/03/2011

Blatantly. Kimiko, we are not even technically in a recession, since the GDP numbers keep rising. I agree that to many of us it feels like one, but by the numbers we are in a recovery.

[Kimiko Austin-Rijs]

05:30 PM on 05/03/2011

I do not trust the numbers because contrary to popular belief, they tell big whopping lies.