Rising Share of Americans See Conflict Between Rich and Poor
The Occupy Wall Street movement no longer occupies Wall Street, but the issue of class conflict has captured a growing share of the national consciousness.
Socioeconomic Class
01.11.12
05.15.11
Is College Worth It?
College costs are rising, student debt is mounting, and most Americans say college fails to deliver good value for the money. Meantime, only 19% of college presidents say the U.S. system is the best in the world. However, more than eight-in-ten college graduates say college was a good investment for them personally.
09.24.10
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.
06.09.10
India’s Census and the Caste Question
Government leaders in India have agreed that the nation’s 2011 census could include a tally of castes, the complex structure of traditional social classes that last were officially measured in 1931. Those caste numbers are the basis of quotas for government employment and university enrollment, and help determine spending on social welfare programs. A council [...]
03.26.09
Before the Great Recession, a Phantom Recovery
The eight-year period from 1999 through 2007 is the longest in modern U.S. economic history in which inflation-adjusted median household income failed to surpass an earlier peak.
03.26.09
Testimony of Paul Taylor, Executive Vice President, Pew Research Center to the Senate Finance Committee
Comments on a report that combines findings of one of our major national public opinion surveys with the Center’s analysis of four decades of demographic and economic trends from the Census Bureau and other sources.
07.29.08
America’s Four Middle Classes
There isn’t one American middle class; there are four. Each is different from the others in its attitudes, outlook and financial circumstance—sometimes in ways that defy traditional stereotypes of the middle class.
05.29.08
The Middle Class Blues
When it comes to anxiety about family finances, an old truism applies: Where you stand depends on where you sit. Or, more precisely, on where your house or apartment sits.
04.30.08
Who Wants To Be Rich?
Only 13% of adults say it’s “very important” for them to be wealthy, ranking this personal priority far behind six others measured in a new survey .
04.09.08
Inside the Middle Class: Bad Times Hit the Good Life
Americans feel stuck in their tracks. A majority of survey respondents say that in the past five years, they either haven’t moved forward in life or have fallen backward.
Highlights