As the global economy shows signs of rebounding, positive assessments of the economic situation have risen in several major advanced economies since last year. Positive views of the economy have sharply increased in countries like Australia and the UK. Yet, many in Spain, Italy, Japan, France, Greece, South Korea, and the U.S., continue to see their overall economic situation as bleak.

Despite an uptick in some places, many say that children will be worse off financially than their parents, according to a survey conducted this spring in 16 publics and in the U.S..

Across the 17 publics, a median of 64% say that when children grow up, they will be worse off financially, while about a third say that children will be better off than their parents’ generation. Only in Singapore and Sweden do half or more hold this optimistic view.