Thursday, August 20, 2015

To Have or to Have Not

Do you consider yourself a "have" or a "have-not"? Gallup recently asked that question of Americans, and a solid majority, 58 percent, consider themselves to be "haves" in U.S. society. Just 38 percent put themselves in the "have-not" group.

The percentage of Americans perceiving themselves to be have-nots rose in the 10 years between the initial 1988 survey and 1998, and more than doubled between 1988 and 2006, when it reached 35 percent. Meanwhile, the "have" percentage has settled into a tight range between 57 percent and 60 percent.

Oddly, it doesn't take a whole lot of wealth to put someone in the "have" category. While 77 percent of Americans with annual income of $90,000 or more consider themselves haves, so do more than half of those - 59 percent - who earn between $36,000 and $90,000 per year.

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