In the wake of successive waves of Covid 19 and an uncertain economy, the people in the United States is said to enter 2022 largely dissatisfied about the way things are going in the country and fearful about the state of the nation. Still, 61 per cent of the people or majority of them are optimistic that the new year will be better than the year that just ended, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center.
NATIONAL CONDITIONS REMAINS LOW
The PEW Centre said that about 21 per cent of the people are satisfied with the way things are going in the country and 78 per cent are dissatisfied. The share expressing satisfaction with the state of the nation is down slightly since September (26%) and down 12 percentage points since last March (from 33%). The new survey also finds that the public’s views of the national economy remain mostly negative and that majorities continue to view the coronavirus as a major threat to the economy and public health. The survey also noted that only a small share of both Democrats and Republicans (and those who lean to each party) talked about satisfaction with the way things are going – though Democrats are nearly three times as likely as Republicans to have a positive view (29% vs. 10%). For most of Donald Trump’s presidency, majorities of Republicans were satisfied with national conditions, compared with fewer than a quarter of Democrats. But by the summer of 2020, amid the spread of the coronavirus and criminal justice protests, members of both parties were largely negative toward national conditions. Democrats are today far less satisfied with the way things are going than they were last March (47% then vs. 29% today). Republicans’ already-low level of satisfaction declined from 17% to 10%.
NATIONAL CONDITIONS
The survey founhd that the people expressed negative emotions when thinking about national conditions these days. They found Majority sying they feel “fearful” (62%) and “angry” (55%) when thinking about the state of the country. Fewer than half feel “hopeful,” while just 20% say they feel proud.” These views are largely unchanged since November 2020, shortly after the presidential election, though the share of adults who say they feel hopeful has declined (54% then vs. 46% today).
A BETTER 2022
While Americans are dissatisfied with current national conditions, a 61% majority say they expect 2027 will be better than 2021. Democrats are considerably more likely than Republicans to say the coming year will be better (71% vs. 46%, respectively).
