This is one of three stories about the latest Fox News survey. For Americans' views on politicians compared to Taylor Swift click here, and for voters' views on supporting Ukraine click here.
Nearly three-quarters of American voters are unhappy with how things are going in the country today — including half of Democrats, according to the latest Fox News survey.
Overall, 72% of voters are dissatisfied. That number has only been higher five times, and two of those were in the last year and a half. A record 79% were dissatisfied in 2009, when the question was first asked on a Fox survey, while it hit 75% last summer (August 2022).
Current dissatisfaction is up almost 20 points since the early days of President Joe Biden’s administration when 53% felt that way (April 2021).
That grim view isn’t only held by Biden’s partisan detractors: 49% of Democrats are dissatisfied — up 29 points since the start of his presidency. Among independents, 83% are unhappy, up 18 points. An overwhelmingly 92% majority of Republicans are dissatisfied, up 8 points.
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No doubt inflation plays a large part in the national mood.
Fifty-eight percent of voters consider inflation and higher prices an emergency. That’s more than feel that way about opioid addiction (52%), crime (48%), the situation at the southern border (48%), climate change (39%), or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (34%).
More than one third, 35%, are living paycheck to paycheck, with enough savings to last a month or less. That’s worse than two years ago when 28% said the same (October 2021).
In fact, if they had to live on their savings, over half, 53%, believe they would run out of money within three months. That climbs to two-thirds (66%) among those earning $50,000 or less annually.
Twenty-two percent, on the other hand, say they could make it for more than a year on their savings, up from 12% in 2021.
"These numbers tell the story of an increasing economic divide in America," says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, whose firm Beacon Research conducts Fox News surveys with Republican Daron Shaw. "More households are living close to the breaking point, and more are also building up reserves, but the middle is shrinking."
Food and groceries are putting the greatest strain on family finances these days (41%). Far fewer voters say their toughest expense is housing (16%), utilities (12%), gasoline (12%), health care (9%), or student loans (5%).
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Many, 53%, have delayed making a major purchase because of high interest rates, and that holds true among even the highest income groups. Women (59%), Hispanic voters (65%), and voters under age 35 (68%) are among those most likely to have put off buying a home or car because of high rates.
Meanwhile, voters don’t believe the country’s leaders understand their situation.
Sixty-four percent say Biden is out of touch with everyday Americans and 59% feel that way about former President Donald Trump.
An even larger majority, 80%, believe Congress is out of touch, and that includes 8 in 10 Democrats, Republicans, and independents.
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In addition, 60% disapprove of the job Congressional Democrats are doing and 66% disapprove of Congressional Republicans.
That 6-point difference is driven by more Republicans (40%) being critical of their party’s lawmakers than Democrats (23%) are of theirs.
Currently 41% of voters approve of the job Biden is doing, while 58% disapprove. That’s unchanged since last month and only 1 point better than his all-time low of 40-59% in July 2022.
More than 6 in 10 disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy: 37% approve, while 62% disapprove. While that’s net negative by 25 points, it’s a big improvement since last summer when he was underwater on the economy by 38 points (June 2022).
His marks are even lower on inflation (30% approve - 67% disapprove) and they give him his worst ratings to date on border security (30-66%).
Some 83% of Democrats approve of Biden’s job performance overall, which is close to his 85% average among the party faithful.
He’s at a new low approval among independents (23%) and remains within a couple points of record lows among voters under age 30 (39%), women (40%), and Hispanic voters (44%).
Conducted October 6-9, 2023, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with 1,007 registered voters nationwide who were randomly selected from a voter file and spoke with live interviewers on both landlines and cellphones. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for all registered voters.
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Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.
