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    Romney’s Strong Debate Performance Erases Obama’s Lead

    Overview 2012 Election Voter Preference Trends Track voter preferences for Obama vs. Romney overall and by demographic group among registered voters. Mitt Romney no longer trails Barack Obama in the Pew Research Center’s presidential election polling. By about three-to-one, voters say Romney did a better job than Obama in the Oct. 3 debate, and the […]

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    The Lost Decade of the Middle Class

    Chapter 1: Overview As the 2012 presidential candidates prepare their closing arguments to America’s middle class, they are courting a group that has endured a lost decade for economic well-being. Since 2000, the middle class has shrunk in size, fallen backward in income and wealth, and shed some—but by no means all—of its characteristic faith […]

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    Where the Public Stands on Government Assistance, Taxes and the Presidential Candidates

    When the national conversation focuses on class, the social safety net and the distribution of wealth as it has in the past week, the public sees clear differences between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, and Obama has an overall advantage. People are more likely to say Obama’s policies would help the middle class and poor, […]

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    Middle Class II

    Survey Details: Conducted July 2012 | File Release Date: 23 August 2013

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    A Third of Americans Now Say They Are in the Lower Classes

    The percentage of Americans who say they are in the lower-middle or lower class has risen from a quarter of the adult population to about a third in the past four years, according to a national survey of 2,508 adults by the Pew Research Center. Not only has the lower class grown, but its demographic […]

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    Americans’ Views about Poverty and Economic Well-Being

    The Pew Research Center has published a number of recent reports that are relevant to the new Census Bureau numbers for the 2011 poverty rate, median household income and people without health insurance. This posting lists and links to reports about Americans’ attitudes toward their own economic circumstances and views on helping the poor, as well as analysis and explanation about poverty and economic well-being.

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    Chapter 3: Middle-class Economics

    Over the past decade, the Great Recession, a housing market collapse, an unemployment surge and an anemic recovery have squeezed the middle class. An overwhelming majority of middle-class Americans (85%) say it is more difficult today than 10 years ago for those in the middle class to maintain their standard of living, according to a […]

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    Chapter 2: Middle-Class Demographics

    Asked to place themselves on a five-step socioeconomic ladder, about half of Americans (49%) say they are in the middle, according to the Pew Research survey. In a similar survey taken in 2008, 53% of adults placed themselves in the middle class. An additional 17% of the public places itself in the upper or upper […]

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    Chapter 4: Middle-Class Mobility

    A majority of middle-class adults say they have a better standard of living now than their parents had at the same stage of life, and a plurality say they expect their own children’s standard of living to eventually surpass their own. However, a somewhat smaller share holds these views now than in early 2008, when […]