Americans take a dim view of the nation’s future, look more positively at the past
When Americans look ahead to 2050, they see a country that in many respects will be worse than it is today.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
When Americans look ahead to 2050, they see a country that in many respects will be worse than it is today.
Twenty years ago this month, the U.S. launched a major invasion of Iraq. President George W. Bush and his administration at first drew broad public support for the use of military force. Yet the campaign soon left Americans deeply divided, and by 2019, 62% said the Iraq War was not worth fighting.
A majority of teens say a welcoming, safe online environment is more important than people being able to speak their minds freely online.
Americans see value in higher education whether they graduated from college or not. Even so, there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction – even suspicion – among the public about the role colleges play in society.
The U.S. public’s views of banks and other financial institutions, as well as large corporations, have become much more negative recently.
Most U.S. adults say President Joe Biden (65%) and Republican leaders in Congress (61%) will be unsuccessful getting their agendas enacted in the next two years; only about a third say the president and GOP leaders will be successful. Republicans are less confident than Democrats in midterm vote counts – but more confident than they were after the 2020 election.
Americans increasingly say gender is determined by one’s sex assigned at birth, but they differ by religion on this and other transgender issues.
One-in-six Americans ages 50 and older (17%) say they have ever used a dating site or app.
There are differences by age in Americans’ attitudes about whether the U.S. should focus more on domestic problems or be more globally active.
Young people in the United States express far more skeptical views of America’s global standing than older adults.
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