January 19, 2024, a recent Gallup survey, reported by Newsweek, discloses that Americans are enduring an unprecedented level of “suffering” due to the compounding impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic downturn, and heightened political polarization, marking a level not seen in the past 15 years.
According to the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index, the percentage of Americans classified as “suffering” reached 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, the highest since the peak of the Great Recession in the first quarter of 2009.
This occurrence marks the fifth time in six quarters since the second quarter of 2022 that the percentage of Americans rating their lives poorly exceeded 4 percent—a benchmark rarely reached since 2008.
In parallel, the percentage of Americans considering their lives “thriving” in 2023 was 52.1 percent, the lowest annual average since 2009. During the years of steady economic growth from 2015 to 2019 and in 2021 during the post-pandemic recovery, over 55 percent of Americans fell into the “thriving” category.
The survey, conducted from November 30 to December 7, 2023, among 6,386 U.S. adults, utilizes Gallup’s Life Evaluation Index, classifying respondents as “thriving,” “struggling,” or “suffering” based on their assessments of current and future life satisfaction on a scale from zero to 10.
Individuals rating their current life as 7 or higher and anticipating a score of 8 or higher for their lives in the next five years are categorized as “thriving,” while those rating both at 4 or below are deemed “suffering.”
Such respondents are more likely to report deficiencies in food and shelter, as well as experiencing physical pain, stress, worry, sadness, and anger, according to Gallup’s findings.
The survey also notes a decline in the “thriving” rate among Republicans and independents since the first half of 2021—by 9 percentage points among Republicans and 2.6 points among independents. However, Democrats maintained a stable “thriving” rate, with the highest rate in 2023 at 55.7 percent, compared to Republicans (51.7 percent) and independents (48.4 percent).
Commenting on the trends, Aaron Pallas, a sociology professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, stated, “Rates of thriving and suffering often rise and fall in response to economic, political, and social events, such as the pandemic, wars, economic recessions, or political regime changes.”
He added, “It’s hard to pinpoint precisely why Americans are more pessimistic about their lives in the past year and a half than in other periods over the past 15 years, but it is worrisome.”
The survey assessed various facets of well-being, including physical health, social relationships, financial security, community involvement, and career satisfaction. Results indicate a decline in Americans’ well-being across all domains except for a slight improvement in community well-being in 2023.
The Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index, a part of a global initiative, aims to comprehend people’s sentiments and experiences about their lives. Gallup has been conducting this survey in the U.S. since 2008 and in over 160 countries since 2005.
