Pew Research Center

Click on the headline above to read this article; the publisher's Web site will open in a new browser window.

This report on the attitudes and lives of the American middle class combines results of a new Pew Research Center national public opinion survey with the center's analysis of relevant economic and demographic trend data from the Census Bureau. Among its key findings: Fewer Americans now than at any time in the past half century believe they're moving forward in life. For decades, middle income Americans had been making absolute progress while enduring relative decline. But since 1999, they have not made… more

At a time when the personal savings rate in this country has fallen into negative territory for the first time in modern history, more than three-quarters (77%) of all Americans describe themselves as the kind of person who "always looks for ways to save money."