WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The percentage of Americans who evaluate their lives well enough to be considered "thriving" on Gallup's Live Evaluation Index reached 59.2% in June, the highest in over 13 years of ongoing measurement and exceeding the previous high of 57.3% from September 2017. During the initial COVID-19 outbreak and economic shutdown, the thriving percentage plunged nearly 10 percentage points to 46.4% by late April 2020, tying the record low last measured during the Great Recession.
The most recent results, captured June 14-20, 2021, are based on 4,820 U.S. adults surveyed by web as a part of the Gallup Panel, a probability-based, non-opt-in panel of about 120,000 adults across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
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 their current life a 7 or higher and their anticipated life in five years an 8 or higher are classified as thriving.
In a broader context, according to the Gallup State of the Global Workplace: 2021 report, the percentage of U.S. workers considered to be thriving was estimated at 58% based on 2018-2020 data collection, which ranks 14th when compared with 18 Western European countries plus Canada.
The percentage of Americans estimated to be "suffering" has remained steadily low throughout the pandemic and in line with pre-COVID estimates. In June, 3.4% of respondents were classified as suffering.
Satisfaction With Current Life Steadily Climbs in 2021
The major drop in the thriving percentage in 2020 was characterized by a severe drop in current life satisfaction ratings. By late April, the percentage of U.S. adults who rated their current lives a "7" or higher had plunged about 11 percentage points, even as the anticipated life satisfaction five years forward had improved. As with the earlier decline in the thriving percentage, its subsequent rebound is driven primarily by changes in current life satisfaction.
Notably, even as current life satisfaction has increased in recent months, anticipated life satisfaction remains elevated compared with pre-COVID levels. The rapid recovery of current life satisfaction, coupled with the sustained elevated level of anticipated life satisfaction, has fueled the thriving percentage to its current heights.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/351932/ame ... -high.aspx
Happy Americans
Happy Americans
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Happy Americans
I think it's the small things that just seem bigger; I went to a restaurant last weekend and was happy I got a real menu instead of having to use my phone. Sure, I'd always prefer a menu, but for some reason this made me immensely happy (same for salt and pepper at the table). If things continue to get marginally "better", in a couple of months this will wear off.
