Sunday, August 7, 2011

Economy related family stress increasing, middle class American identity decreasing right on schedule

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Stress up 10 points from last year. Those who consider themselves middle class falls to 2 year low.

8/6/11, "67% Say Economy Causing Family Stress," Rasmussen Reports

"It's perhaps no surprise to find that a majority of Americans say the economy is adding stress to their family.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 67% of American Adults say the state of the economy is causing more stress on their family. That finding is up 10 points from this time last year . Twenty-seven percent (27%) say the economy isn’t causing their family more stress. (To see survey question wording, click here .)...

Still, 43% of adults say they have gotten into an intense argument with a friend or family member about economic conditions in the country. That's up six points from 37% last year....

The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on July 31-August 1, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See methodology .

Most Americans (68%) say their fellow citizens are less tolerant of each other’s political opinions than they were in the past, while just 16% say they’re more tolerant. Another 12% feel Americans’ level of tolerance is about the same as it was in the past. These results show little change from August 2010. ...

Higher-income adults are experiencing less family stress than those who make less. Non-investors claim more family stress than investors do.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of adults with children at home say economic conditions in the nation are adding stress to their family, compared to 64% of adults without children living with them.

Adults under the age of 30 report more stress than their elders do.

More Americans than ever (76%) say their fellow citizens are becoming ruder and less civilized . That’s up from 69% this time last year....

The belief among Americans that purchasing a home is a family’s best investment is weaker than ever.

One-in-five working Americans continue to classify themselves as poor , while the number of those who consider themselves

  • middle class has fallen to a two-year low."...
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4/1/2010, "The Obama Coalition," The Atlantic, Thomas Byrne Edsall

"While both the “have” and “have-not” coalitions have been growing, with the middle (class) waning,"...

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Even the NY Times knows this is about the death of the middle class:

2/20/10. "The New Poor: Despite Signs of Recovery, Chronic Joblessness Rises," NY Times, Peter S. Goodman

"Call them the new poor: people long accustomed to the comforts of middle-class life who are now relying on public assistance for the first time in their lives — potentially for years to come."...


via WZ


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