Gallup Poll Finds Record Number of Americans Considered ‘Suffering’ Under Biden

While Democrats are starting to feel some optimism about the November midterm elections, a record number of Americans are reporting that they consider themselves to be “suffering.”

A poll released by Gallup on Monday found that the number of Americans who “evaluate their lives poorly enough to be considered ‘suffering’ on Gallup’s Life Evaluation Index,” hit 5.6% in July — surpassing the previous high of 4.8% that was set in April.

That number was also “statistically higher than all prior estimates in the COVID-19 era.”

The polling outlet explained, “For its Life Evaluation Index, Gallup classifies Americans as ‘thriving,’ ‘struggling’ or ‘suffering,’ according to how they rate their current and future lives on a ladder scale with steps numbered from 0 to 10, based on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale. Those who rate both their current and future lives a 4 or lower are classified as suffering. Those who rate their current life a 7 or higher and their anticipated life in five years an 8 or higher are classified as thriving.”

https://twitter.com/GallupNews/status/1561684767631867906

Gallup started measuring how Americans rate their lives in 2008. At the time, 3.8% of Americans were considered suffering.

Broken down by party affiliation, the survey found that suffering doubled among Republicans since June, 2021. And it almost doubled among Democrats as well during that same period.

Meanwhile, those considered suffering among independents hit 4.7% in June 2021. The number spiked to 7.3% in April 2022 and dipped to 6.2% in July.

During that same period, the number of Americans who report experiencing stress increased — however it did not reach the 60% that was recorded in March 2020.

“The 5.6% suffering rate in July marks the first time the Gallup measure has exceeded 5% in the U.S. and translates to an estimated 14 million American adults,” Gallup noted.