Middle Class
Survey Details: Conducted January-February 2008 File Release Date: 27 April 2009
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Survey Details: Conducted January-February 2008 File Release Date: 27 April 2009
From the kitchen to the laundry room to the home entertainment center, Americans are paring down the list of familiar household appliances they say they can’t live without.
While many say they light up to relieve stress, half of all smokers say they “frequently” experience stress in their daily lives, compared with just 35% of those who once smoked and have now quit, and 31% of those who never smoked.
The eight-year period from 1999 through 2007 is the longest in modern U.S. economic history in which inflation-adjusted median household income failed to surpass an earlier peak.
Comments on a report that combines findings of one of our major national public opinion surveys with the Center’s analysis of four decades of demographic and economic trends from the Census Bureau and other sources.
There is a stronger consensus in public opinion about the social cost of out-of-wedlock births than there is about the morality of these births.
By nearly two-to-one, the public says it prefers a hotter place to live over one with a colder climate. No surprise, then, that San Diego, Tampa and Orlando rank at the top of places to live for those who favor a balmy climate.
“Magnet” states are those in which a high share of the adults who live there now moved there from some other state. “Sticky” states are those in which a high share of the adults who were born there live there now.
Suburbanites are significantly more satisfied with their communities than are residents of cities, small towns or rural areas, but that doesn’t mean Americans want to live there.
Not even a housing-led recession can shake Americans’ faith in the blessings of homeownership.