Even With the Economic Difficulties, Two-Thirds of Americans Are Very Satisfied With the Life They Lead

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – October 28, 2008 – While the drumbeat of bad economic news continues, overall, Americans are satisfied with the lives they lead. Over nine in ten (93%) say they are satisfied, including two-thirds (65%) who are very satisfied, with their lives and only 7% are not satisfied. The level of those who say they are very satisfied has grown – in 2007, just over half (56%) said they were very satisfied.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll®, a new nationwide survey of 1,010 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone between October 16 and 20, 2008 by Harris Interactive^®. This Harris Poll also finds:

• A plurality of Americans (42%) say their present situation has improved compared to five years ago, while three in ten (29%) say it has stayed the same and just under that (28%) say it has gotten worse. This is where the economic issues may have taken a toll as in 2007, over half (54%) said their lives had gotten better and only 17% said it had gotten worse;
• Over half of Southerners (52%) say their lives have gotten better compared to only three in ten Easterners (31%) and 38% of Midwesterners. There is also a generational difference as 60% of Echo Boomers (aged 18-21) and half (51%) of Generation Xers (aged 32-43) say their lives have improved compared to just 36% of Baby Boomers (aged 44-62) and 22% of Matures (aged 63+);
• Looking ahead to five years from now, just over half of Americans (56%) expect their personal situation to improve while three in ten (30%) say it will stay about the same and 10% believe it will get worse. In 2007, three in five adults (62%) believed their situation would improve in five years; and,
• The younger people are, the more likely they are to believe that their situation will improve in five years. Over four in five (84%) of Echo Boomers believe their personal situation will improve compared to just 30% of Matures.

For the next four years, there will be a new president in the White House and 44% of adults believe, when it comes to the lives they lead, whey would be better with Barack Obama as president while three in ten adults (29%) believe they would be better with John McCain. One-quarter of adults (24%) say it will make no difference who is elected president. Not surprisingly, Democrats and Republicans each believe things would be better under their party’s candidates, but Independents are more likely to think things would be better under Obama (44% versus 22%).

At the moment, people are able to separate the bad economic news and how they feel about their own lives. This may reflect their knowledge that in January a new President will be inaugurated into office and there will be changes, and these changes will be positive. And there is still a sense of optimism about the future as majorities believe things will improve in the next five years. This speaks to the long-term optimism of the American people – no matter what, things can and will get better

"On the whole, are you very satisfied, fairly satisfied, not very satisfied or not at all satisfied with the life you lead?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding

* Less than 0.5%

"If you compare your present situation with five years ago, would you say it has improved, stayed about the same or got worse?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding

* Less than 0.5% "-" No response

"If you compare your present situation with five years ago, would you say it has improved, stayed about the same or got worse?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding

* Less than 0.5%

"In the course of the next five years, do you expect your personal situation to improve, to stay about the same or to get worse?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding

"-" No response

"In the course of the next five years, do you expect your personal situation to improve, to stay about the same or to get worse?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding

"When it comes to the life you lead, how much difference do you think there would be over the next four years depending on who is elected president?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding

"-" No response

The Harris Poll® was conducted by telephone within the United States between October 16 and 20, 2008 among a nationwide cross section of 1,010 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults, number of voice/telephone lines in the household, region and size of place were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

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Q755, 760, 765, 770