In April 2009, for the 22nd year in a row, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press asked 3,013 Americans for their opinions on questions it has tracked in its Values Survey since 1987 – including perceptions about the nation’s and individuals’ own financial situation, control of personal finances and mobility, views on health care, race relations, government and much more.
Here are some of the public opinion findings relevant to five of six indicators – Security, Equality, Mobility, Voice, and Community – that The Opportunity Agenda uses to evaluate opportunity:
Poverty
Less people are satisfied with how things are going for them financially. A narrow majority of Americans (53%) agree that they are “pretty well satisfied with the way things are going” for them financially, the lowest percentage recorded since 1987. Two years ago, 61% said they were satisfied financially. A decade ago, amid the economic boom, 68% agreed that they were pretty satisfied financially.
People in the lowest income category (less than $20,000) are more than four times more likely than those in the highest income group ($75,000 or more) to say they often have trouble making ends meet (73% vs. 17%). Opinions about this issue across income groups have held fairly steady in recent years.
The gap in public opinion about financial satisfaction by income groups persists, although the better off are feeling worse off. Today, 65% of those in the highest income category – those with family incomes of $75,000 or more – say they are pretty well satisfied financially, down from 85% two years ago. Just 37% of those in the lowest income category ($20,000 or less) are currently satisfied with their financial situation, unchanged from 2007.
Insurance and Costs
Fully 86% of Americans agree with the statement that “the government needs to do more to make health care affordable and accessible,” including 59% who completely agree. Just 12% disagree.
However, the public remains conflicted about government’s role: nearly half (46%) say they are concerned about the government becoming too involved in health care.
Poverty
Opinions across income groups about the axiom that: “the rich just get richer while the poor get poorer” are similar across income groups. A large majority of Americans (71%) agree, but while there are somewhat predictable differences across income categories, this view is widely shared: 80% of those with family incomes of $30,000 or less agree with this statement, but so do 62% of those with incomes of $100,000 or more. Opinions about a growing disparity between rich and poor have changed little over the past decade.
Wages, Income and Wealth
Fewer Americans also say the country is economically divided into “haves and have-nots.” Currently, 35% see the country as divided into two groups – haves and have-nots – the lowest level in four years (38% in March 2005), down from 44% last fall. In July 2007, a recent high of 48% expressed this view.
About twice as many blacks as whites (29%) believe the country is split between haves and have-nots, although fewer African Americans believe the country is divided between haves and have-nots than did so last October (75% then, 60% today).
Today, 43% of African Americans see themselves as haves; compared with 35% last October. A narrow majority of whites (54%) continue to view themselves as haves, which is largely unchanged from 2008 (50%).
Perceptions of Black Progress
Far more African Americans than whites or Hispanics continue to believe that there has not been much improvement in the status of blacks. The divide in perceptions between blacks and whites on this question remains nearly as wide as it was in 2007. Currently, 58% of blacks say they have seen little improvement in the position of African Americans in recent years, down from 69% in 2007. Among whites, 26% agree with this statement, a drop of eight points from 34% two years ago. Today, 40% of Hispanics say that there has been little recent improvement in the position of black people, down slightly from 49% in 2007.
Less African Americans agree that success is determined by forces beyond one’s control. 38% agreed in April 2009, compared with 47% in 2007. It is also interesting to compare these views to those measured in the 90’s: 56% of African Americans agreed in 1994, but just 36% agreed in 1997.
Whites’ and Hispanics’ views about this issue have changed little: 30% of Whites agree now, 29% in 2007. A relatively large share of Hispanics (45%) believe that success is largely determined by forces outside of one’s control; this is little changed from 2007 (48%).
Voice:
African Americans are now significantly more likely than whites to believe that elected officials care about their opinions – the first time this has occurred in a values survey. In 2007, just 36% of blacks expressed this view, while today nearly half of non-Hispanic African Americans (47%) agree with the statement that “most elected officials care what people like me think” – the highest percentage in two decades. By contrast, opinion among non-Hispanic whites has changed little over the past two years (35% currently, 33% in 2007).
The public takes a somewhat less cynical view of government today than it did in 2007. Americans are more likely to believe that government is “really run for the benefit of all the people” (49%, compared with a recent low of 45% in 2007). Positive ratings of the government reached a recent peak of 55% in 2002 – in the year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks – and 57% in 1987 and 1989.
African American opinions about government are now significantly more upbeat than in recent years. Half of blacks (50%) now see the government as being run for the benefit of all Americans – a shift from the more cynical views of government held by African Americans during the Bush administration (37% in 2003) and a return to those held during the Clinton administration (53% in 1997).
Despite more positive attitudes about government responsiveness and effectiveness, there has not been a commensurate shift in support for a broader government mandate. In fact, public support for a government safety net for the poor has receded from a recent high in 2007. The share that believes that it is the government’s responsibility to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves has dropped from 69% two years ago to 63% today, and there have been comparable declines across other items related to government assistance to the needy.
Source: All data and analysis in the paragraphs grouped by indicators was retrieved from the Trends in Political Attitudes and Core Values report by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.