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Economic Conditions

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  • report

    Cockeyed Optimists or Self-Fulfilling Prophets?

    Even while their personal worries have deepened, Americans have been feeling more upbeat about the national economy’s prospects and less concerned about rising inequality. What underlies this trend and can it be sustained?

  • short reads

    Bar Tab Recession

    Four-in-ten young adults say they have cut back spending on alcohol or cigarettes as a result of the recession.

  • report

    Gen Next Squeezed By Recession, But Most See Better Times Ahead

    While the economic downturn is falling quite heavily on younger Americans, their overall outlook remains optimistic. A new survey also finds Generation Next expressing more liberal views when compared with older age cohorts as well as evidence of increased political engagement.

  • report

    Most Middle-Aged Adults Are Rethinking Retirement Plans

    In the midst of a recession that has taken a heavy toll on many nest eggs, just over half of all working adults ages 50 to 64 say they may delay their retirement — and another 16% say they never expect to stop working.

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    Different Age Groups, Different Recessions

    Older adults are less likely than younger and middle-aged adults to say that in the past year they have cut back on spending; suffered losses in their retirement accounts; or experienced trouble paying for housing or medical care.

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    Minorities, Immigrants and Homeownership

    The boom-and-bust cycle in the U.S. housing market over the past decade and a half has generated greater gains and larger losses for minority groups than it has for whites, according to an analysis of housing, economic and demographic data.

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    Support for Free Trade Recovers Despite Recession

    Overview Despite the economic recession, public support for free trade agreements has recovered after declining a year ago. Currently, 44% say that free trade agreements like NAFTA and the policies of the World Trade Organization are good for the country, up from 35% a year ago. Slightly more than a third (35%) say that such […]

  • report

    Luxury or Necessity? The Public Makes a U-Turn

    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.

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    Public Knows Basic Facts About Financial Crisis

    Overview The latest Pew Research Center News IQ survey finds the American public reasonably well-informed about a number of basic facts pertaining to the current economic situation. Fully 83% know that the government assistance to banks and other financial institutions is aimed at getting them to lend more money, not less money. Roughly seven-in-ten (71%) […]