short reads | May 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.

report | May 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.

short reads | May 13, 2013

In time for graduation season, a look at student debt

College is a pretty pricey proposition, even after grants and scholarships are factored in. And the millions of students graduating this spring will soon learn just how expensive their degrees were when they start getting student-loan bills. As a Pew Research Center analysis noted last year, nearly one in five U.S. households (19%) owed money […]

short reads | May 8, 2013

Should you invest in stocks or housing for the long term? It depends.

With the stock market hitting new highs and home prices marking their strongest gains since before the bubble burst, it’s starting to feel like a real economic recovery. But which is the better investment over time? That depends largely on your definition of “long term.” As the accompanying charts show, since the formal end of the […]

report | Apr 23, 2013

A Rise in Wealth for the Wealthy; Declines for the Lower 93%

During the first two years of the nation’s economic recovery, the mean net worth of households in the upper 7% of the wealth distribution rose by an estimated 28%, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93% dropped by 4%, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly released Census Bureau […]

report | Feb 21, 2013

Young Adults After the Recession: Fewer Homes, Fewer Cars, Less Debt

After running up record debt-to-income ratios during the bubble economy of the 2000s, young adults shed substantially more debt than older adults did during the Great Recession and its immediate aftermath—mainly by virtue of owning fewer houses and cars, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Federal Reserve Board and other government data. […]

report | Feb 6, 2013

Public Hearing Better News about Housing and Financial Markets

Overview As Barack Obama begins his second term in office, the public is hearing a mix of good and bad news about the economy, as it has for much of the past four years. Views of news about real estate values and financial markets have improved and are as positive as they have been in […]

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