Around six-in-ten U.S. adults say the nation’s economic system unfairly favors powerful interests, though partisans are divided. Partisan differences extend to beliefs about why people are rich or poor.
Hispanics are more likely than the general U.S. public to believe in the American dream – that hard work will pay off and that each generation is better off than the one prior.
Beyond partisan differences over economic policies, there are stark divisions on a fundamental question: What makes someone rich or poor?
Optimism in an Era of Growing Inequality and Economic Difficulty Despite an extended period of economic difficulty, Pew Research Center pollsters Andrew Kohut and Michael Dimock show that Americans’ core values and beliefs about economic opportunity, and the nation’s economic outlook, remain largely optimistic and unchanged. There is also little evidence that economic class is […]
The recent deliberations in Washington about the fiscal cliff have triggered a national debate in the United States about the nature, extent and future sustainability of key elements of the U.S. social safety net.
Income inequality has become a major issue in the presidential campaign.
Two decades after the Soviet Union's collapse, Russians, Ukrainians, and Lithuanians are unhappy with the direction of their countries and disillusioned with the state of their politics. Enthusiasm for democracy and capitalism has waned considerably and most believe the changes that have taken place have had a negative impact on many aspects of public life.
American values differ from those of Western Europeans in many important ways. Most notably, Americans are more individualistic and are less supportive of a strong safety net than are the publics of Spain, Britain, France and Germany. However, Americans are coming closer to Europeans in not seeing their culture as superior to that of other nations.
The speed of the war in Iraq and the prevailing belief that the Iraqi people are better off as a result have modestly improved the image of America. But in most countries, opinions of the U.S. are markedly lower than they were a year ago.
