Americans ‘Suffering’ at Rate Rarely Reached

Americans are “suffering” at a level that has rarely been seen, according to a new survey.

The percentage of Americans estimated to be “suffering” was 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index.

It was the fifth time in six quarters since the second quarter of 2022 that the number of Americans who evaluated their lives poorly topped 4 percent—a level that has only rarely been reached since 2008.

The average rates in both 2022 and 2023 both exceed the levels of “suffering” measured during the Great Recession, according to Gallup.

Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans who evaluated their lives well enough to be considered “thriving” was 52.1 percent in 2023—beating only the Great Recession era between 2008 and 2009 (50.2 percent) and the first nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when it was 50.2 percent. Between 2015 and 2019, when there was steady economic growth, and in 2021, when the economy was recovering from the pandemic, more than 55 percent of Americans were “thriving.”

The survey was conducted between November 30 and December 7, 2023 among 6,386 U.S. adults.

Gallup categorizes Americans as “thriving,” “struggling” or “suffering” for its Life Evaluation Index based on how they rate their current and future lives on a ladder scale with steps numbered from zero to 10, using 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, while those who give their current life—as well as their next five years—a 4 or below are classified as suffering.

These respondents are more likely to report lacking food and shelter, more likely to have physical pain, stress, worry, sadness, and anger, according to Gallup.

Gallup reports that the thriving rate among Republicans and independents has declined since the first half of 2021—by 9 percentage points among Republicans and 2.6 points among independents.

However, the thriving rate among Democrats has remained steady. Democrats also had the higher thriving rate in 2023—55.7 percent—compared to both Republicans (51.7 percent) and independents (48.4 percent).

“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,” Aaron Pallas, a professor of sociology at Teachers College, Columbia University, told Newsweek.

“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.

“Candidates for public office often ask the public, ‘Are you doing better now than you were a few years ago?’ If people vote based on these feelings, it may be harder for incumbents to remain in office.”