Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Finances Top Family Problem Economic concerns are weighing on the minds of Americans these days. When asked in an open-ended format to name the biggest problem currently facing them and their families, most Americans (62%) cite financial concerns, and the proportion doing so is up significantly from the mid-1990s. In 1994, 56% named financial concerns […]
Background There has been an aggressive national campaign to bring computers and the Internet into schools since 1996. The Telecommunications Act passed that year created the E-Rate program, which provided discounts of 20%-to-90% to schools (depending upon the number of poor children in a district) to purchase Internet access for the school or library. The […]
Introduction and Summary The public’s view of George W. Bush’s first month in office is remarkably unremarkable. Despite the extraordinary path he took to the White House, Americans are reacting to Bush in much the same way they responded to his predecessors. Bush’s modest February job approval rating (53%) is comparable to ratings accorded Bill […]
Blacks Remain Wary On balance, every major demographic group approves of the way Bush is handling his job as president, with one exception — non-whites. Overall, non-whites are fairly evenly divided over Bush’s job performance: 30% approve, 33% disapprove, 37% have no opinion. Blacks are the most critical: 22% approve, 40% disapprove and 38% have […]
Online activities Online teens, particularly older ones, are omnivorous Web users. They sample a large variety of activities online. They particularly resemble the adult newcomers to the Internet that we named “Instant Acolytes” in the fall of 2000.[13.numoffset=”13″ See https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/Reports/2000/New-Internet-Users.aspx] Instant Acolytes and teens of all experience levels alike are enthusiastic Internet users, embracing the […]
Introduction and Summary As the country awaits the formal transfer of presidential power, Bill Clinton has never looked better to the American public, while his successor George W. Bush is receiving initial reviews that are more mixed, though still positive. The president leaves office with 61% of the public approving of the way he is […]
State of the Nation Al Gore is benefitting from two seemingly disparate trends — higher satisfaction with the state of the nation and increased worry about longer-term economic issues. A substantial dip in public satisfaction with national conditions, which was particularly evident in the spring and early summer, has reversed itself. More than half of […]
’00 Priorities As President Clinton prepares to deliver his final State of the Union address Jan. 27, the public’s top priority — education — remains unchanged from recent years. But Americans are also sending a strong message to the president and the candidates who are vying to succeed him: Keep the economic boom going. Seven-in-ten […]