Pessimism around the national economy is at a record high in the U.S., and a majority of survey respondents believe the American dream is no longer true, according to a new poll.
The poll, released Monday by The Wall Street Journal/NORC Research Center, found that just a quarter of U.S. adults believe they have a good chance of improving their standard of living.
When asked about the state of the economy, 45 percent of Americans said it will get worse over the next year. Another quarter said it will get better, while 29 percent said they believe it will stay about the same.
Nearly half of the respondents, 47 percent, said they were more or less satisfied with their present financial situation. About 22 percent of respondents said they are satisfied, and another 30 percent stated they are not satisfied at all, according to the survey.
The majority of Americans — 69 percent — said they think the so-called American dream no longer holds true or that it never did; 31 percent of respondents said the opposite, according to the survey.
Around 44 percent of respondents said the economy is excellent or good — a 6 point increase from a year ago. Still, 56 percent of U.S. adults said they see the economy as either poor or not so good, the poll found.
Rising prices are creating major financial strains for 28 percent of respondents, the same figure recorded in March 2023. Another 32 percent said the rising cost of living is causing minor financial strains.
Some 30 percent of respondents said the cost of living is not a problem now, but it will become one if the prices keep going up. Another 10 percent said they were not concerned.
Less than a quarter, or 23 percent, of Americans said they were very confident they could buy a home if they wanted to, while 56 percent said they did not have much or any confidence they could do the same.
The Wall Street Journal/NORC poll was conducted July 10-23 among 1,527 U.S. adults. The margin of error was 3.4 percentage points.
