The “Possessions Perception Gap” - Better Understanding America
Presented with a list of high-end consumer goods and services, and asked whether they have them and whether they believe most other people have them, most Americans tend to over-estimate what most other families have; for example, more than six-in-ten (62%) believe say that most families have a high definition television, whereas just 42% of all adults say that their family has one.
Similarly, about a quarter (24%) of respondents believe that most people have a child in private school, though only 15% of parents with school age children report having a child in private school. Lopsided majorities also believe that most families have cable or satellite service, two or more cars, and high speed internet access. In these judgments, they are correct — a majority of families report that they do in fact have these goods and services.
- Fewer Americans now than at any time in the past half century believe they’re moving forward in life.
Americans feel stuck in their tracks. A majority of survey respondents say that in the past five years, they either haven’t moved forward in life (25%) or have fallen backwards (31%). This is the most downbeat short-term assessment of personal progress in nearly half a century of polling by Pew Research and the Gallup organization.
When asked to measure their progress over a longer time frame, Americans are more upbeat. Nearly two-thirds say they have a higher standard of living than their parents had when their parents were their age.
- For decades, middle-income Americans had been making absolute progress while enduring relative decline. But since 1999, they have not made economic gains.
As of 2006 (the last year for which trend data are available), real median annual household income had not yet returned to its 1999 peak, making this decade one of the longest downturns ever for this widely-accepted measure of the middle-class standard of living. Over a longer time period, the picture is much brighter; since 1970, median household income has risen by 41%.
However, this long-term prosperity has not spread evenly. The upper-income tier (households with annual incomes above 150% of the median) has outperformed the middle tier (households with annual incomes between 75% and150% of the median) — not just in income gains, but also in wealth accumulation. From 1983 to 2004, the median net worth of upper-income families more than doubled, while the median net worth of middle-income families grew by just 29%. In effect, those in the middle have been making progress in absolute terms while falling behind in relative terms.
- Some 53% of adults in America say they are middle class.
On key measures of well-being — income, wealth, health, optimism about the future — they tend to fall between those who identify with classes above and below them. But within this self-defined middle class, there are notable economic and demographic differences. For example, four-in-ten Americans with incomes below $20,000 say they are middle class, as do a third of those with incomes above $150,000. And about the same percentages of blacks (50%), Hispanics (54%) and whites (53%) self-identify as middle class, even though members of minority groups who say they are middle class have far less income and wealth than do whites who say they are middle class.
Nonetheless, the American middle class is optimistic about the future. Most are confident that their quality of life in five years will be better than it is now. And, gazing farther ahead, most expect their children to do better in life than they themselves have done.
- Economic, demographic, technological and sociological changes since 1970 have moved some groups up the income ladder and pushed others down.
Relative winners include seniors (ages 65 and older); blacks, native-born Hispanics and married adults. The income status of all of these groups improved from 1970 to 2006. Losers include young adults (ages 18 to 29), the unmarried, foreign-born Hispanics and people with a high school education or less. All of these groups have seen their relative income positions decline.
- Most middle class adults agree with the old saw that the Republican Party favors the rich while the Democratic Party favors the middle class and the poor.
Nearly six-in-ten (58%) middle-class survey respondents say the Republican Party favors the rich, while nearly two-thirds say the Democratic Party favors the middle class (39%) or the poor (26%).
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