Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Economy & Work

data essay

Who Sees Themselves as Working Class?

Most Americans think of themselves as working class today. While the identity is widely adopted by people across all income and educational groups, seeing oneself as working class has a heavy political tinge and differs by race and ethnicity.

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    Nation’s Real Estate Slump Hits Wealthy Areas

    Summary of Findings Public assessments of the nation’s economy have fallen to a two-year low, and the nation’s economic outlook remains relatively gloomy. In particular, faced with a steady stream of negative news about the U.S. housing market, Americans are substantially less inclined than they were even a few months ago to say they expect […]

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    World Publics Welcome Global Trade — But Not Immigration

    The publics of the world broadly embrace key tenets of economic globalization but fear the disruptions and downsides of participating in the global economy. In rich countries as well as poor ones, most people endorse free trade, multinational corporations and free markets. However, the latest Pew Global Attitudes survey of more than 45,000 people finds they are concerned about inequality, threats to their culture, threats to the environment and the threats posed by immigration. And there are signs that enthusiasm for economic globalization is waning in the West.

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    A Nation of “Haves” and “Have-Nots”?

    Over the past two decades, a growing share of the public has come to the view that American society is divided into two groups, the “haves” and the “have-nots.” Today, Americans are split evenly on the two-class question with as many saying the country is divided along economic lines as say this is not the […]

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    A Rising Tide Lifts Mood in the Developing World

    A 47-nation survey finds that as economic growth has surged in much of Latin America, East Europe and Asia over the past five years, people are expressing greater satisfaction with their personal lives, family incomes and national conditions. The picture is different in most advanced nations, where growth has been less robust and citizen satisfaction has changed little since 2002.

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    British Car Bombs Top News Interest

    Summary of Findings Dramatic events in London and Scotland last week attracted a large news audience. Roughly a third of the public paid very close attention to news that British police had found and defused two car bombs in London, and another 31% followed the story fairly closely. Fully 21% said this was the single […]

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