Pessimism over economy was running high before coronavirus lockdown - Pew
Pessimism was highest globally over whether the gap between rich and poor could be reduced.
By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDSFILE PHOTO: People who lost their jobs wait in line to file for unemployment benefits, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Arkansas Workforce Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S. April 6, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/NICK OXFORD/FILE PHOTO)
Pessimism regarding the gap between the rich and poor was widespread globally even before the coronavirus lockdown caused many economies to stall, a new poll by the Pew Research Center has found.The large-scale survey of nearly 40,000 people across 34 countries found that nearly two in three adults (65%) worldwide said they were pessimistic about reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. There was also a strong correlation between people who felt that way, and those who thought that children today will not be better off than their parents.The lockdown enforced to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus has pitched millions of people into financial difficulty worldwide; in Israel, over a million applications for unemployment assistance were filed immediately prior to, and during the lockdown in March, of which 69% were reportedly still unemployed in mid-June.Similarly, in the United States, the number of young people neither in work nor enrolled in education more than doubled to 28% - some 10.3 million people between the ages of 16 and 24.But the poll shows that the availability of well paying jobs was already of concern to the majority in 21 of the 34 countries surveyed, with 53% of the population overall across all countries reporting pessimism in this area.However, while inequality was the top cause of pessimism in 25 of the 34 countries surveyed, the second greatest cause for pessimism was the way the political system works in the respondent's home country, which was listed as the number one cause for concern in seven countries, and the second highest cause for concern in a further 18.Overall, 54% of the population surveyed felt pessimistic about their country's politics, with pessimism running particularly high in Lebanon (78%), France (76%), Argentina (72%), the UK (71%), and Italy (68%). Israelis, generally speaking, were more optimistic than many of their counterparts, with the majority feeling optimistic about employment and education before the coronavirus lockdown came into effect. Two in three (67%) of Israelis were pessimistic about closing the inequality gap, and 56% were pessimistic regarding politics - perhaps unsurprising in a year which saw two elections and no government formed - but just over four in ten (43%) of Israelis were pessimistic about employment, and even fewer (39%) about education.In the United States, 2019 was marked by the impeachment of Donald Trump and widespread division between Republican and Democrat supporters. It is therefore perhaps unsurprising that people were most pessimistic about the political system (63%), although pessimism over closing the inequality gap was high in the US, running at 61%. A similar number of Americans (58%) also voiced pessimism over the education system in the US, but Americans were positive about the availability of well paying jobs, with only 36% reporting pessimism over employment prospects.Among the most pessimistic countries overall was France, where the majority was pessimistic about inequality, politics, employment and education. Some 86% of French respondents were pessimistic regarding inequality - the highest level recorded across the nations. They were most optimistic about education, with 62% reporting feeling pessimistic in this area.Bulgaria, the UK, Turkey and Brazil were four other nations which were pessimistic across the board, as was Spain, where 84% were pessimistic about inequality, 76% about employment, 74% about politics and 57% about education.Political allegiance played a part in how pessimistic people were. In several countries, Pew reported, those who placed themselves on the left wing of politics were more pessimistic about reducing inequality than those on the right. This trend was most pronounced in the US, where 81% of left-leaners were pessimistic about the likelihood of reducing inequality, against 42% of those on the right.There were also large divides between left and right in Hungary (33 percentage points), Lithuania (23 points), Brazil (20 points), the UK (19 points) and Israel (19 points).The poll was conducted between May 13 and Oct. 2, 2019, with a total of 38,426 respondents surveyed either face-to-face or over the phone.
