Personal Finances

short readsJul 1, 2013

Households owing student loan debts at record levels

About one out of five of the nation’s households owed student debt in 2010, more than double the share two decades earlier.
reportJun 19, 2013

Obama Job Approval Holds Steady, Economic Views Improve

Overview In a second term marked by a series of controversies and little legislative success, President Obama’s job approval rating has nonetheless remained fairly steady. Currently, 49% approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president while 43% disapprove. That is little changed from a month ago, before the NSA surveillance controversy and […]
reportJun 19, 2013

About the Survey

The analysis in this report is based on telephone interviews conducted June 12-16, 2013 among a national sample of 1,512 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (758 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone, and 754 were interviewed on a cell phone, including […]
short readsJun 4, 2013

The Mediterranean: Go for the beaches, not the mood

The Mediterranean is a sea of misery, according to the Pew Research Center’s recent report on global economic trends. Nations ringing the Mediterranean consistently rank at or near the top of multiple measures of pessimism in the 39-country survey. And, in what should surprise exactly no one, Greece has by far the bleakest outlook, topping […]
reportJun 3, 2013

Mapping Mediterranean Misery

The closer the country is to the outer edge of the spider graph, the more negative its attitudes are; the closer it is to the center of the graph, the more positive its attitudes are. To see more countries, select in the legend below. [js_interactive id=”global-unhappiness” path=”prc/2013/global-unhappiness/index” libraries=”highcharts,highcharts-more”]
short readsMay 31, 2013

Economic recovery favors the more-affluent who own stocks

While the stock market has been surging, there is a big gap who who benefits that has implications for the strength of the economic recovery.
reportMay 29, 2013

Breadwinner Moms

A record 40% of all households with children under the age of 18 include mothers who are either the sole or primary source of income for the family, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The share was just 11% in 1960.
short readsMay 24, 2013

U.S. stands out as a rich country where a growing minority say they can’t afford food

During tough economic times many people around the world find it difficult to afford life’s basic necessities. Nearly half (a median of 49%) of those surveyed by the Pew Research Center in developing economies and a quarter (25%) in emerging markets say that, at some point in the past year, they have been unable to afford food that their families needed.
reportMay 23, 2013

Global Econ Quiz

Test how much you know about economic attitudes in the world, based on an international survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project.
reportMay 23, 2013

Advanced Economies Report Lowest Deprivation

While people in advanced economies are most bearish about their economic situation, they report very low levels of deprivation relative to others around the world, including people in emerging nations who are more positive and optimistic about economic conditions. Reports of deprivation are closely related to national wealth. For example, in Australia, Canada and Germany […]