Record Percentage of Americans Sees Themselves As Worse Off

Fifty-five percent of Americans interviewed in a May 30-June 1 Gallup Poll said they were worse off financially than they were a year ago. This is the first time in the 32 years that Gallup has tracked this question that a majority of Americans have declared themselves worse off financially. During the recessions of the early Reagan years and the early 1990s, the percentage of Americans who said they were worse off than the previous year peaked between 44 percent and 48 percent. It was at its lowest point, 19 percent, during the economic boom of the late 1990s.