Written by Elizabeth Dsurney, Global Economic Intersection Associate
The latest Pew Poll results have found that 63% of Americans believe the nation’s economic system is “no more secure,” now than it was before the market crash in 2008. Only a third of Americans (33%) believe the economic system is better and more secure.
The survey, conducted in September from 1,506 adults, concluded that 54% say household incomes have barely recovered from the start of the recession, and 52% say the job market hasn’t improved. In addition, only 4% believe real estate values have fully recovered and 21% say the stock market has fully recovered.
Have government policies helped?
A majority of those polled say the government has done little or nothing to help those in financial need, (72%), middle-class people, (71%), and small businesses (67%). In contrast, many believe government policies have done a lot to help wealthy citizens, 59%, large corporations, (67%) and large banks (69%).
Political Divide
There is a clear and diametric split about what the government should have done, with 49% saying market regulation hasn’t done enough, while 43% say government has gone too far. The results fall along a predictable political divide: For Republicans 64% say regulations have gone too far; only 26% of Democrats believe the government has been too involved with financial recovery. Independents are split on the issue.
Many Republicans (80%) and independents (68%), believe the economy is not more stable than before the recession. Democrats are split, with 51% saying it’s more secure and 45% saying it’s not.
There is no political divide on one question: Over 70% Republicans, Democrats and independents all said the government policies have done little or nothing for poor people post-financial crisis.
Jobs are the Top Worry
For every economic classification and political affiliation the jobs situation is the top worry.
How About the Recovery?
From the beginning of the recession to now, 54% believe household incomes have barely recovered, 42% say it has partially and a small 2% say it’s fully recovered. On job outlooks, the numbers are relatively the same, with 52% weighing in on hardly recovered job situations, 45% partially recovered and 2% say it’s recovered in full.
The stock market is seen as growing the most since 2008. Overall, 21% say the stock market has fully recovered and 53% say it has partially. Only 18% believe it has hardly recovered. This result is quite curious because on the first trading day of September (the third) the S&P 500 was 13% higher than on the first trading day of January in 2008. It was 5% higher than on the market peak in October 2007 in case the respondents were thinking of that number even though the question was worded as “since the recession that began in 2008“.
The poll numbers are even more divergent from market results for the NASDAQ Composite which started September 38% higher than it was at the beginning of January 2008 and 26% higher than the market peak in October 2007.
There are two possible reasons for these divergences:
- Some (many) respondents were not investors.
- Some (many) respondents who were investors interpreted the question to be about their own investment results although the subject was clearly specified to be the stock market.
Clearly the respondents would have been nearly 100% saying complete recovery if they understood the question and were informed about the stock market.
Less than 2/3 Were Impacted by the Great Recession
Recession impacts can be seen in how those polled describe their financial situation. One third of those polled said the recession had a major impact and they are still recovering. A mere two percent believe it impacted them, but they have nearly recovered. More than a third (37%) said the recession had no major impact on their personal financial situation whatsoever.
Current Conditions and Future Outlook
The current conditions perceptions have been slowly improving since 2009. However, even though there has been much volatility, the one year forward outlook is not substantially better now than it has been throughout the past five years.
Sources:
Five Years after Market Crash, U.S. Economy Seen as ‘No More Secure’ (Pew Research Center, 12 September 2013)
