Gallup poll data download, chart by Mish

Gallup reports Half in U.S. Say They Are Worse Off, Highest Since 2009

Reflecting on their personal financial situations, 35% of Americans say they are better off now than they were a year ago, while 50% are worse off. Since Gallup first asked this question in 1976, it has been rare for half or more of Americans to say they are worse off. The only other times this occurred was during the Great Recession era in 2008 and 2009.

The latest results are based on a Jan. 2-22 Gallup poll. They follow a year of persistent high inflation, with the highest inflation rates since 1982. Stock market values declined and interest rates rose in 2022, but, on average, personal wages increased substantially.

In both 2021 and 2022, Americans were evenly divided between saying they were better off versus worse off, including a 41% to 41% split in last year’s survey.

By contrast, before the pandemic in January 2020, Americans were almost three times as likely to say they were better off (59%) as worse off (20%). The 59% reading is one of the highest in Gallup’s trends, along with a 58% reading in 1999.

Poll Results by Income 

(Click on image to enlarge)

Worse Off by Income

• Lower: 61%
• Middle: 49%
• Upper: 43%

A massive 61 percent of lower-income workers say they are worse off. 

Pay is rising faster for production and nonsupervisory workers than all workers but they seem to be falling further behind.

Across all income groups more say they are worse off than better off. 

Wakeup Call

This should be a wakeup call for President Biden but it isn't. He spent the first half of his State of the Union address telling people what a great job he has done. 

The second half of the SOTU was a wish list begging for more inflation and higher taxes.

For discussion, please see Biden Gives a Well-Delivered SOTU Speech Begging for More Inflation and Tax Hikes

President Biden delivered his State of the Union speech far better than I expected. The problem was content, not delivery.

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