Report: Most Americans Glum on Financial Progress

As many Americans struggle with declining housing values, increasing food and energy prices and growing unemployment after a long period of flat wages, well over half of respondents said they are either losing ground economically or are stuck in the same place, according to the report released today by the Pew Research Center. Only four in 10 said they have moved forward in the past five years -- a record low, Pew says, and far off the record 57 percent who in 1997 said they had moved forward in the previous five years.

The squeeze is particularly tight for those who are low-income and for the 53 percent of Americans who classify themselves as middle-class. Nearly four out of five middle-class adults say it is more difficult for people like them to maintain their standard of living. In 1986, fewer than two of three middle-class people shared that opinion.

Only two in five middle-class Americans say they "live comfortably," while one in five says he or she is just able to meet expenses. The others say they are able to meet expenses with some money left. Overall, slightly more than half said they had to "tighten their belts" to adjust to the increasing economic pressure.

The Pew report, which is based on a telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,413 adults overlaid with demographic information from the Census Bureau, adds new information about how Americans feel about their economic situations in the midst of a presidential campaign in which the plight of the middle class has been at the heart of the debate.

Democratic candidates Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) have argued that ordinary Americans are slipping backward and are more shaky economically. In response, the candidates have proposed expanding health-care coverage, increasing financial aid for college students and cutting taxes for the middle class. Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) also has promised to cut taxes for the middle class and to expand the availability of health care through tax incentives.

Even as they struggle, nearly two-thirds of Americans acknowledge that they are better off than their parents were when they were their age, an important marker of upward mobility. That fulfillment of the American dream has persevered even as the nation has entered a period of widening income disparities and creeping insecurity brought on by the rise in income volatility, the decline in fixed-benefit pensions and the increasing need for households to send two breadwinners to work to maintain a middle-class life.

Despite not returning to its 1999 peak, median household income increased by 41 percent between 1970 and 2006. Seven in 10 survey respondents said they have cable or satellite television as well as two or more cars. Two-thirds reported having high-speed Internet service, and 42 percent said they have a high-definition or flat-screen television, the report said, adding that the typical house is 50 percent larger and nearly twice as expensive now as it was in the mid-1980s.

But those luxuries have come at a price, as middle-class households are assuming more risk and borrowing more than ever before. Debt-to-income ratios more than doubled between 1983 and 2004, going from .45 to 1.19, the report said.

Meanwhile, more Americans have managed to move up the income ladder, particularly when they approach middle age. Between 1970 and 2006, the share of Americans whose income fell between 75 percent and 150 percent of the national median contracted from 40 to 35 percent. But the percentage who were above 150 percent of the median ticked upward from 28 to 32. The lowest income group also grew, from 31 to 33 percent, led by a sharp increase in the number of young people, aged 18 to 29, who are lower-income.

Among the groups to substantially improve their economic standing since 1970 are senior citizens, native-born Hispanics, African Americans and married couples, the report said. Meanwhile, single men and people with high school diplomas or less and immigrant Hispanics are among those who have lost ground, the report said.

Despite agreeing that it is harder to maintain a middle-class lifestyle, Americans do not agree on whom to blame for their plight. About a quarter blame the government, 15 percent blame the spiraling price of oil, 11 percent blame themselves and 8 percent blame foreign competition.

"Part of it is the natural cycle," said Vicki Cool, 61, a retired nurse who lives in Salisbury, Md., and worries whether the Social Security payments she receives from her late husband and her savings will keep her afloat through retirement. "Everybody wants to point a finger. But I'm not sure that I know enough to point fingers. I just know it's unfortunate."