Report: Americans Dissatisfied with High Prices, Inequality, and the State of Democracy

The October 2021 Daily Kos/Civiqs Poll asked 1,378 registered voters in the United States about aspects of life in America that they are satisfied with — and dissatisfied with — right now.

Americans are in a pessimistic mood. Increasingly, people are saying that the country is headed in the wrong direction and that the nation’s economy is getting worse. President Biden’s job approval rating has fallen to all-time lows, despite the popularity of his policy agenda. News reports suggest that Americans have a variety of complaints, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, legislative gridlock, rising prices, debt, education policy, violence in their communities, and more.

To pinpoint the problems that are affecting the largest numbers of Americans today, Civiqs asked voters whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied with sixteen different components of their lives. At the top of Americans’ list of concerns is the state of democracy in America — with 88% saying they are dissatisfied, and only 5% saying they are satisfied. The next most common set of complaints is about the high prices of gasoline, consumer goods, and health care. Americans are also broadly dissatisfied with the amount of money they have saved, and the gap in wealth between the rich and everyone else. Racial relations and education-related issues are additional causes of large-scale dissatisfaction.

In many other aspects of life in America, however, voters are generally contented. Most Americans are satisfied with their employment situation, their housing situation, and their access to health care. This may be surprising considering the duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, when asked about the direction that the pandemic is going in their local area, 38% of Americans say that they are satisfied, 36% are dissatisfied, and 26% feel indifferent or say they are not affected by it. Of the sixteen issues tested, employment (19% dissatisfied), housing (23% dissatisfied), access to health care (30% dissatisfied), and the direction of the pandemic (36% dissatisfied) are sources of dissatisfaction to the fewest numbers of Americans.

Infrastructure — the focus of President Biden’s newly-passed $1 trillion bill — is a concern for many Americans, but not nearly as many as are upset over basic economic factors like prices and inequality. Half of Americans (50%) are dissatisfied with the infrastructure where they live, including transit, utilities, and internet. By contrast, 78% of Americans are dissatisfied with gas prices; 75% are dissatisfied with the price of consumer goods; 57% are dissatisfied with the price of health care and health insurance; 59% are dissatisfied with the amount of money they have saved; and 58% are dissatisfied with the concentration of wealth.

Areas of Partisan Agreement

On many economic issues, dissatisfaction is shared by both Democrats and Republicans. Looking at their personal savings, 60% of Republicans are dissatisfied, as are 56% of Democrats. On the high price of consumer goods, 92% of Republicans are dissatisfied, but so are 57% of Democrats. The price of health care and health insurance is seen as a problem by 54% of Republicans and 59% of Democrats. The price of gasoline is a problem for 97% of Republicans, but also 59% of Democrats.

Nearly all Americans — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — are dissatisfied with the state of democracy in America today. Among Democrats, 86% are dissatisfied and 7% are satisfied. Among Republicans, 90% are dissatisfied, and just 3% are satisfied. Independents are 89% dissatisfied and 4% satisfied.

Quality of Life

Since the start of the year, only 20% of Americans say that their quality of life has improved. Fully 44% say that their life is worse now than it was at the beginning of the year. Another 33% feel that their quality of life is the same as at the start of the year. Democrats are more positive on this measure than Republicans; even so, only 38% of Democrats feel that their quality of life has improved in 2021, and 46% of Democrats say that their quality of life is unchanged.

Looking forward, voters narrowly prefer Democratic policy goals to Republican objectives. More Americans believe that the country would be better off by doing things that Democrats want (44%), rather than things that Republicans want (42%). Voters in urban areas are much more supportive of Democratic policies (60%) than Republican policies (24%). This is reversed in rural areas, where more voters prefer Republican policies (52%) to Democratic policies (35%). Suburban voters are divided between preferring Democratic policies (45%) or Republican policies (43%).

Civiqs surveyed 1,378 registered voters in the United States from October 30 - November 2, 2021. The survey was conducted online, among selected members of the Civiqs research panel. Sampled individuals were emailed by Civiqs and responded using a personalized link to the survey at civiqs.com. The survey results are weighted by age, race, gender, education, party identification, and region to be representative of the population of registered voters in the United States. The general design effect due to weighting is 1.08. The survey has a margin of error of ±2.7% at the 95% confidence level, accounting for the design effect.