August 25, 2007 1:00 PM
State of the Nation
There has been little change in the last couple of months in Americans' pessimism about how things are going in this country.Mid-July surveys by Gallup and Newsweek found dissatisfaction running 71% and 68% respectively, with 27% in both surveys saying they are satisfied.
Similarly, an AP-Ipsos survey in the 2nd week of July found 69% saying the country is on the wrong track, essentially the same number as found by the NBC/WSJ survey a month earlier that reported 68% saying we are on the wrong track.
And, in a special survey of 17-19 year olds taken by CBS/NYT in mid-June, 70% said the country is off on the wrong track, while 26% said it is going in the right direction.
87% of African-Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. This compares with 68% of Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites who share that view. [Gallup 6/07]
The unemployment rate in June was steady at 4.5%. [WP7/7/07]
There seems to be a slight up-tick in Americans' attitudes toward the economy. However, they are less optimistic than they were in January of this year. Gallup combines data on how folks rate current economic conditions with whether they think the economy is getting better or worse:
| Positive | Negative | Mixed | |
| July 2007 | 25% | 49% | 22% |
| June 2007 | 20 | 60 | -- |
| January 2007 | 34 | 38 | -- |
Here are the top priorities for the President and Congress that Americans identified in June. They are compared to the selection of priorities in April. Note the movement of immigration, probably driven in part by the immigration debate and the public responses during that debate. [Gallup April, June 2007]
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While the immigration debate in Washington seems to have generated a lot of public interest - 60% are following it at least somewhat closely - it has not generated more interest than other news events tracked by Gallup over the last decade. There is also little difference in the attention being paid based on the political Party preference of the respondent.
25% of Americans say that dealing with the illegal immigrants already in the country should be the highest priority, while 20% say the priority should be cutting off the flow of new illegal immigrants. 53% say that both matters should be treated equally.
There is also a slight bias toward passing new laws (50%) over enforcing current laws more strictly (46%).
[Gallup June, July 2007]
The number of Americans reporting that they had difficulty paying for healthcare costs over the last year has slightly more than doubled in the last 30 years.
32% report having trouble paying for healthcare in the last year, as compared to 15% in 1976. Hispanics (45%) and blacks (43%) report significantly more troubles in this area than whites (25%).
Workers' contributions toward family healthcare reached $2,973 in 2006, an increase of 84% since 2000. [Gallup June, 2007; Kaiser Family Foundation]
By 52% to 28%, Americans believe that global terrorism is a greater long-term threat than "the effects of climate change and global warming." [Fox News poll 6/6/07]
41% are highly concerned about the issue of global warming. This is an increase of 15 points since 2003, but it simply brings concern back to where it was in 2000. But the level of concern has a political overtone. 85% of Democrats and leaners worry a "great deal" about global warming, but only 46% of Republicans and leaners share that sentiment. The number of people who feel they understand the issue of global warming very well or fairly well, has reached an all-time high of 76%. [Gallup 3/07 and earlier]
Americans believe that protection of the environment (58%) is more important than increasing production of energy supplies (34%), and they are more likely to prefer conservation of current energy supplies (64%) than increasing production (26%). [Gallup 3/07] Whether their choices are realistic remains to be seen.
65% of Democrats believe that restrictions on stem cell research using Federal funds should be eased. This is a sentiment that is shared by only 45% of Republicans. Independents fall in the middle, at 61%. [Gallup 6/07]
Overall, 56% of us say that religion is very important in our lives. This includes 66% of Republicans, 57% of Democrats, and 48% of Independents. [Gallup - analysis of surveys over last 5 years]
What is your view of the Bible? 47% of us believe it is the "inspired word of God." 31% of us believe it is the "actual word of God to be taken literally." (25 years ago, 38% held this view.) 19% believe the Bible is a group of "ancient fables, history and legends recorded by man."
The more formal education that a person acquires, the more likely he/she is to see the Bible as "inspired by God," and less likely to see it as "the word of God." [Gallup average of polls in May of 2005, 06 and 07]
The other day, WW leaned from the 6 people under 30 working in the office, none of whom live together, that none of them have landline telephones in their apartments.
It turns out that
- 25% of those in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 24 do not have landlines.
- 29% of 25-29 year olds are cellphone-only users.
- Males are slightly more likely than females to only have cell-phones.
Not only are young people eschewing landlines, they are also shying away from newspapers. Only 9% of teenagers read a newspaper every day. This compares to a slightly larger percentage of 18-30 year olds (16%), and 35% of those over 30 years of age. [Shorenstein Center/J.F.K School of Government]
Over the last 5 years, the number of us who say that the state of moral values in this country is "poor" has reached a high of 44%, with 82% of Americans thinking moral values are getting worse. [Gallup May 2007]
The number of people who think doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable is the same today as it was in 2001. 49% find it acceptable, while 44% find it to be morally wrong.
However, 56% of Americans believe that a doctor should be allowed to help a patient commit suicide, if the patient requests it, and 71% believe that a doctor should be allowed to painlessly end the life of a person with an incurable disease, if the patient and his/her family request it. [Gallup May 2007]
We are getting older. As of 2006, the median age of people living in the United States is 36.4 years, up from 35.3 years in 2000. The "oldest" state is Maine, with a median age of 41.3 years, and the "youngest" state is California at 34.4 years.
Between 2000 and 2006 the population of the United States grew by 6.4%. During that same period the number of Hispanics grew by 25.5%.
Nevada, with a growth in population of 25%, had the largest increase in the period. In second place was Arizona, with a growth rate of 20%. The States which lost the greatest percentage of their population were Louisiana, at a -4%, and North Dakota, which lost 1% of its population. [Census Bureau estimates]
Americans now believe that significant fatness - obesity - is as harmful to a person's health as smoking. 83% view obesity as "very harmful" and 79% have the same view about smoking.
28% say that obesity has been a cause of serious health problems in their family. 74% are sympathetic to those who suffer from severe fatness, as compared to 58% who have that view toward smokers. By some margin, men (25%) tend to be less sympathetic than women (17%) toward those who struggle with obesity.
17-29 year olds: How they think about various issues
NYT/CBS/MTV joined together for a special survey of 17-29 year olds in mid-June 2007. Here are some of their beliefs about the role of government:- 62% think it is very important that government policies promote job training and job opportunitie for younger workers
- 60% say it is very important for the government to have policies that provide insurance coverage to folks that do not have it.
- 37% believe that abortion should be generally available; 38% say available, but under strict limits; and 24% say it should not be permitted. This is almost identical to the positions taken by all adults.
- 55% think the healthcare system in the country requires fundamental changes
- 62% favor a government-administered, single-payer system
