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DECLINING HOUSING VALUES -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - OFFERING the gloomiest assessment of economic well-being in close to half a century, a new survey has found that most Americans say they have not made progress over the past five years as their incomes have stagnated.
They also say that they have increasingly borrowed money to finance their lifestyles.
As many Americans struggled with declining housing values, increasing food and energy prices and growing unemployment, well over half of respondents said they were either losing ground economically or were stuck in the same place, according to a report by the Pew Research Centre.
Only four in 10 said they had moved forward in the past five years - a record low, Pew said, and far off the record 57 per cent who in 1997 said they had moved forward in the previous five years.
The squeeze is particularly tight for those who have low incomes.
The survey paints a mixed picture for the 53 per cent of adults in the country who define themselves as 'middle class', with household incomes ranging from below US$40,000 (S$55,000) to more than US$100,000.
Nearly four out of five middle-class adults say it is more difficult for people like them to maintain their standard of living.
Only two in five say they 'live comfortably', while one in five is just able to meet expenses. The others say they are able to meet expenses with some money left.
Overall, slightly more than half said they had to 'tighten their belts' to adjust to the increasing economic pressure.
'I am able to get by, but I have to be really careful about how I spend my money,' said Ms Lorraine Conrad, 77, a Virginia Beach widow who lives on Social Security and her husband's military survivor benefits.
The Pew report is based on a telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,413 adults taken from Jan 24 to Feb 19.
It gives information about how Americans feel about their economic situations in the midst of a presidential campaign in which the plight of the middle class has been at the heart of the debate.
Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have proposed expanding health-care coverage, increasing financial aid for college students and cutting taxes for the middle class.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain also has promised similar tax incentives.
Even as they struggle, nearly two-thirds of Americans say they are better off than their parents were when they were their age, an important marker of upward mobility.
That fulfilment of the American dream has persevered as the nation has entered a period of widening income disparities and creeping insecurity brought on by the rise in income volatility, the decline in fixed-benefit pensions and the increasing need for households to send two breadwinners to work to maintain a middle-class life.
'Most expect to face some belt-tightening - or worse - in the coming year but a majority are confident that their quality of life in five years will be significantly better than it is now. And...most expect their children's standard of living to be better than their own,' the report said.
Those surveyed agree that it is harder to maintain a middle-class lifestyle, but they do not agree on whom to blame for their plight.
About one-quarter blame the government, 15 per cent blame the rising price of oil, 11 per cent blame themselves and 8 per cent blame foreign competition.
WASHINGTON POST, ASSOCIATED PRESS
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