Economy worries zap US optimism

A recent poll undertaken by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University indicates that a growing number of Americans are seeing their hopes for a brighter future dim even as they battle the constant onslaught of devastating economic news, job losses and stock portfolio declines.

In a survey of 943 people, nearly three quarters of adults believe future generations will face a harder time economically than current and past generations.

About a quarter of the respondents said they believe it will take more than three years for the economy to start growing again, and another quarter say they frequently or sometimes worry about unemployment.

Even people living in a house they can afford are showing anxiety.

The survey results were released Wednesday. The telephone survey was conducted between Feb. 16 through March 11. It was funded under a grant from Scripps Howard Foundation, the philanthropic arm of The E.W. Scripps Company that publishes Anderson's weekly newspaper, the Valley Post, as well as Redding's daily newspaper, the Record Searchlight.

The survey has a margin of error of approximately 4 percentage points.

Not too surprising, the Scripps-funded survey confirmed that the recession is hurting people in lower income brackets much more than those with higher incomes.

Close to 70 percent of those earning $10,000 or less annually reported that their household income had decreased during the past five years while only 11 percent of those making between $80,000 and $100,000 annually reported any decrease in income.

More astonishing, 65 percent in the higher income brackets reported that their household income had actually increased during that same period.

The same phenomenon occurred in 2001 when the economy took a dive. The upper and upper-middle income classes didn't take long to recover, according to Kevin Leicht, a sociology professor at the University of Iowa who researches the economy and society regarding income disparity issues.

By contrast, the lower and middle-income classes never fully recovered from that downturn, he noted.

The survey found that 48 percent of adults indicated that someone in their household had experienced a layoff at least once, and most in that group said layoffs have hit home during the past 12 months. Those in lower income brackets were more likely to be affected than the wealthy, the study confirms.

Sure, people in the upper and upper-middle classes have lost money on paper, in stocks and in the value of their house. But that isn't money with which they are buying food and gasoline, clothing and heating oil, Leicht noted.

"When people in the lower classes start losing income, they feel the pain much more quickly. They can't pay their bills, buy groceries or take their kids to the doctor," he explained.

Perhaps that is why we are seeing our president and other world leaders more and more frequently declaring that the worst is over and there is indeed a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.

While this is a message that most Americans would love to embrace as truth, those bearing the most weight of the current recession are most likely not going to hold their collective breaths until the big breakthrough occurs.

More likely, they will hunker down and keep hustling for that next temporary job, that next handout or that last chunk of bread.

I find this to be an especially difficult dichotomy to understand as I joined the rest of the Christian world this past weekend in celebrating Easter, traditionally a time of hope and joy as we remembered the sacrifice and ultimate resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

Yes, there is hope. But it won't be found in a fatter paycheck, fancier automobiles, exotic trips, jewelry, fashionable clothes or most of those things that the world equates with success.

Our hope is in Jesus Christ!