Americans See A Gloomy 2011
A Pew Research Center poll recently found that Americans predict a gloomy 2011
, with job stability, living costs, and the state of their retirement savings among the most significant concerns. About 75% of all participants said that they were worried about economic conditions in the country, while almost half of all participants say that the economy will not recover in the next few years. Also, almost 90% estimate the conditions in the country as ranging from poor to fair. As for 2011, 31% off all participants say that they will be worse off, compared to 2010.Carroll Doherty, an associate director from Pew, says that more workers are pessimistic this year compared to 2010. She also stated that these workers wrongly predicted that the economy was on its way to recovering, which clearly is not the case. The Pew survey also finds four people out of five saying the job market, especially in their local communities, is extremely difficult. In the same vein, two people out of every three say that they cannot find employment in their lines of work. About 50% of survey participants admit that they, if not another household member, has been unemployed or trying to find gainful employment in 2010.
When it comes to topics such as affording the costs of living and retirement, more than 56% say that they are hard-pressed to afford what they want to buy (including some necessities), which results in even more difficulty in finding enough money to put aside for retirement. About 25% also say that they have accumulated credit card debt and other kinds of debt that they cannot afford, in addition to what they still owe on mortgage payments for their homes.
Overall, the surveyed workers assessed their personal finances as such: 40% - fair, 30% - good, 23% - poor, 5% - excellent, and 2% - unknown. In contrast to the situations wherein these workers find themselves, they say that the companies or employers they work for are in decent to excellent financial health.
Meanwhile, in line with the Pew survey, University of Alabama professors predict steady economic growth, although the degree of growth is still below what is needed to end or considerably decrease the higher-than-average unemployment rates of this year. UA predictions also include rising interest rates for municipal bonds due to added risk, major increases in the prices of health insurance premiums, and fast-rising utility costs; all of which compound the gloomy 2011 forecast from the Pew study.
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