> [Greenberg Quinlan Rossler]
>
> Research Focuses on Economic Mobility in Time of Economic Crisis
>
> Washington, DC. March 12, 2009. America is in the midst of an economic
> crisis, yet Americans remain resilient, optimistic about their own
> future and confident in their ability to succeed. A new study
> commissioned by the Economic Mobility Project of the Pew Charitable
> Trusts takes an in depth look at Americans' sense of economic mobility
> in the current climate.
The actual data turn out to be more interesting than the press release suggests. When asked to forecast their "standard of living" in 10 years, or whether they currently enjoy a higher "standard of living" than their parents, or whether their kids (or kids in general) will enjoy a higher "standard of living," the answers are very strongly positive.
Later in the questionnaire, they introduce the concept of the "American Dream," propose various ways to define it, and ask people which definitions correspond to their own. (The usual asnwers: financial security, owning a home, getting an education, being middle class, etc.) When they follow up by asking whether people think their kids (or kids in general) will find it easier or harder to achieve the American Dream, the answers are strongly negative. (59% harder, 34% easier, with "much harder" outnumbering "much easier" by more than 2-to-1.)
If there is one theme that consistently emerges, it is that the individual controls his own destiny - people can succeed if they really try. The data show again and again that Americans really believe this. (Blacks just as much as whites.) Yet, when asked specifically: "How common is it for someone to start poor, work hard and become rich?" that thinking seems to evaporate. Uncommon beats common 59-39, with "very uncommon" outnumbering "very common" by 4-to-1 (27-7).
So it seems that Americans believe their "standard of living" is rising long-term - maybe they're thinking of iPods and ATMs - even as they find it's getting harder to achieve a "middle class" life. And the notion that anyone can do what they want if they put their mind to it - what might be called the sacred doctrine of American ideology, shared across the political spectrum - is deeply hardwired, but maybe more as a scripted, performed speech-act than as a concrete, empirical appraisal of perceived American reality.
SA