The Great Recession
The Great Recession has touched virtually every American. This Pew Research Center series of survey-based reports documents how the downturn shrank paychecks, shattered budgets, drained savings accounts, changed spending and borrowing habits and pushed long-term unemployment to historic levels.
In a Down Economy, Fewer Births
A sharp decline in fertility rates in the United States that started in 2008 is closely linked to the souring of the economy that began about the same time, according to a new analysis of multiple economic and demographic data sources.
Fighting Poverty in a Bad Economy, Americans Move in with Relatives
Without public debate or fanfare, large numbers of Americans enacted their own anti-poverty program in the depths of the Great Recession: They moved in with relatives.
No Consensus About Whether Nation Is Divided Into ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-Nots’
Despite an extended economic downturn, the public’s impression of whether the nation is economically divided remains relatively stable.
Childhood Poverty Among Hispanics Sets Record, Leads Nation
The spread of poverty across the United States that began at the onset of the Great Recession of 2007-2009 and accelerated last year hit one fast-growing demographic group especially hard: Latino children.
Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics
The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available government data from 2009.
Two Years of Economic Recovery: Women Lose Jobs, Men Find Them
During the sluggish two-year recovery from the Great Recession, men have gained 768,000 jobs while women have lost 218,000 jobs. This new gender gap in employment trends represents a sharp turnabout from the recession itself, when men lost more than twice as many jobs as women.
One Recession, Two Americas
For a narrow majority of Americans (55%), the Great Recession brought a mix of hardships, usually in combination: a spell of unemployment, missed mortgage or rent payments, shrinking paychecks and shattered household budgets, but for the other 45% of the country, the recession was largely free of such difficulties.
A Third of Public Says It’s Sometimes OK for Homeowners to Stop Making Mortgage Payments
More than a third (36%) of Americans say the practice of “walking away” from a home mortgage is acceptable, at least under certain circumstances.
Since the Start of the Great Recession, More Children Raised by Grandparents
One child in 10 in the United States lives with a grandparent, a share that increased slowly and steadily over the past decade before rising sharply from 2007 to 2008, the first year of the Great Recession.
Lost Income, Lost Friends – and Loss of Self-respect
Long-term unemployment takes a much deeper toll than short-term unemployment on a person’s finances, emotional well-being and career prospects.
Highlights