Samuel Case, FISM News

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The number of Americans who say they are “suffering” has hit historic levels, according to Gallup’s Life Evaluation Index.

The index, which categorizes Americans as “thriving,” “struggling,” or “suffering,” found that as of July, 5.6% of citizens now fall in the “suffering” classification – the highest number since the poll’s creation in 2008 – breaking April’s record high of 4.8%. 

The rating is based on The Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale which asks respondents the following: 

• Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to 10 at the top.
• The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you.
• On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time? (ladder-present)
• On which step do you think you will stand about five years from now? (ladder-future)

Respondents in the suffering category “have poor ratings of their current life situation (4 and below) AND negative views of the next five years (4 and below). They are more likely to report lacking the basics of food and shelter, more likely to have physical pain, a lot of stress, worry, sadness, and anger.”

The rate has increased across the political spectrum, with 5.4% of both Democrats and Republicans classified as “suffering.” That’s up significantly from June 2021 when suffering among Democrats and Republicans was 2.9% and 2.7% respectively.

Independents are the worst off, with 6.2% suffering, which is down from 7.3% in April but is still significantly higher than the 4.7% reported in June of last year.

As suffering has increased, the percentage of “thriving” Americans has similarly decreased. Gallup found that 51.2% of Americans are considered to be thriving – a drop from the record high of 59.2% in June of 2021.

According to Gallup, thriving Americans “have positive views of their present life situation (7+) and have positive views of the next five years (8+). They report significantly fewer health problems, fewer sick days, less worry, stress, sadness, anger, and more happiness, enjoyment, interest, and respect.”

While the poll doesn’t ask for the reasoning behind each respondent’s answer, it is safe to assume that for some the negative outlook may correlate to the record rates of inflation that America is seeing. A CBI report from July showed that inflation was sitting at 8.5%, with many commonly consumed goods reaching record highs.

While thriving is at an 18-month low, it’s nowhere close to the lowest recorded level of 46.4% which has been seen twice since the poll began – November 2008 during the great recession and late April 2020 when Americans were approximately a month into COVID-19 lockdowns.