(POLL) Record number of Americans say they're 'suffering'

The following is an excerpt from Gallup News.

The percentage of Americans who evaluate their lives poorly enough to be considered “suffering” on Gallup’s Life Evaluation Index was 5.6% in July, the highest since the index’s inception in 2008.

This exceeds the previous high of 4.8% measured in April and is statistically higher than all prior estimates in the Covid-19 era.

The most recent results, obtained July 26 to Aug. 2, 2022, are based on web surveys of 3,649 U.S. adults as a part of the Gallup Panel, a probability-based, non-opt-in panel of about 115,000 adults across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The percentage of U.S. adults estimated to be thriving has steadily declined since it reached a record high of 59.2% in June 2021. The latest estimate of 51.2% is an 18-month low.

The lowest recorded thriving rate of 46.4% was measured twice — first, in November 2008 amid the Great Recession, and second, in late April 2020, during the initial economic shutdown associated with the outbreak of Covid-19 in the U.S.

Suffering Rate Has Doubled Among Republicans Since June 2021

Suffering rates have notably climbed in recent months for Democrats, Republicans and independents alike. Since June 2021 — the highest point for the Life Evaluation Index among all Americans — the proportion who are suffering has doubled among Republicans, to 5.4%.

Among Democrats, it has also jumped to 5.4% — nearly double the 2.9% from a year ago. And independents were near 5% suffering before a significant increase to 7.3% in April 2022, which eased only slightly to 6.2% in July.

The movement in the suffering percentage is much more consistent across the three groups than the changes measured in the thriving percentage, which has declined much more for Republicans than their counterparts since June 2021.

Continue reading article and see full survey results here.