Personal Finances

Those who say their homes are worth less than what they owe on their mortgages are generally younger, less affluent and more likely to be Hispanic or African American than are those who feel they would at least break even if they had to sell today.

Overview For the public, the continuing financial crisis has been overtaken by a jobs crisis. The proportion of Americans citing jobs or unemployment as the nation’s most important economic problem has more than quadrupled – from 10% to 42% – since early October and job worries now far surpass concerns over the financial crisis. People’s […]

Almost one-in-ten (9%) Latino homeowners say they missed a mortgage payment or were unable to make a full payment and 3% say they received a foreclosure notice in the past year.

Overview Americans continue to render extremely bleak assessments of economic conditions, both with respect to the national economy and their own financial situations. Fully 92% of the public rates the national economy as only fair or poor, and a substantial majority (61%) judges their personal finances that way. Both measures are among the most negative […]

Overview Americans are concerned about the nation’s economic problems almost to the exclusion of every other issue, and they register the lowest level of national satisfaction ever measured in a Pew Research Center survey. Just 11% say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country – down 14 points in the […]

Overview Amid record gas prices, public support for greater energy exploration is spiking. Compared with just a few months ago, many more Americans are giving higher priority to more energy exploration, rather than more conservation. An increasing proportion also says that developing new sources of energy – rather than protecting the environment – is the […]

Americans are giving higher priority to more energy exploration, rather than more conservation; concern about the environment fades as support for ANWR drilling rises.

When it comes to anxiety about family finances, an old truism applies: Where you stand depends on where you sit. Or, more precisely, on where your house or apartment sits.

Most Americans say they're not saving as much as they should -- but they're apparently not worried enough to do much about it.

While the latest statistics reported fewer job losses than analysts expected, the public is expressing increasing concern about job availability; but unlike in the 1992 downturn, such worries are concentrated in the lower portions of the income spectrum.