Americans' optimism for their future took a hit last year, poll finds

"The number of Americans who anticipate they will have "high-quality lives" in five years' time has dropped to a nearly two-decade low, according to a poll released Tuesday. Around 6 in 10 people surveyed said they expected their lives would be significantly better in the future than today. That is about nine percentage points lower than during the height of the covid-19 pandemic, according to Gallup, which began measuring Americans' sense of optimism in 2008."

"American optimism is down across the board by 3.5 percentage points since 2024, and Hispanic adults have had the greatest drop in optimism in the past year, from about 69 percent to roughly 63 percent, according to Gallup. (The new figures are based on four quarterly surveys conducted throughout 2025 involving 22,125 respondents, and the poll's margin of error is plus or minus half a percentage point."

"Both ratings have slumped over the past five years across a pandemic,affordability issues, turbulent national politics and global conflicts. The steep drop in optimism in 2025 suggests some Americans think their lives will worsen still, Witters said. In the past year, around 62 percent of American adults ranked their current life at a 7 or higher, and around 59 percent anticipated their life in five years' time would rank at an 8 or higher, according to Gallup."

Americans' expectations of having high-quality lives in five years have fallen to a near two-decade low, with about 6 in 10 expecting significant improvement—roughly nine percentage points lower than at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. Optimism dropped 3.5 percentage points since 2024, with Hispanic adults experiencing the largest decline from about 69% to roughly 63%. The figures derive from four quarterly 2025 surveys totaling 22,125 respondents; overall margin of error is ±0.5 percentage point (±2 points for race and party subgroups). Both current-life and five-year expectations have slumped amid pandemic, affordability, political turbulence, and global conflicts.

Read at The Washington Post