Poll: Nearly Half of Voters Say They Are ‘Financially Worse’ Off than One Year Ago

Nearly half of U.S. voters say they are “financially worse” than they were one year ago, shortly after the end of former President Trump’s four years in office, Harvard/Harris Poll’s March survey found.

The survey asked respondents, “Would you say that your personal financial situation is improving or getting worse?”

Nearly half, 49 percent, said their financial situation is “getting worse.” That is over two times higher than the 21 percent of voters who said the same exactly one year ago, in March 2021, less than two months after Trump left office.

That coincides with the top issue for voters, as “price increases/inflation” topped the list of “most important issues” facing the country.

Voters were asked to select three issues, and the “economy and jobs” followed closely behind with 27 percent. Immigration rounded out the top three with 21 percent, followed by the coronavirus (19 percent), health care (18 percent), terrorism/national security (18 percent), national debt/federal budget deficits (15 percent), crime and drugs (14 percent), environment/climate change (14 percent), and corruption (12 percent). The remaining issues saw ten percent support or less.

Respondents were also asked to identify their greatest/second greatest concern, and once again, inflation topped the list, as 35 percent said it is their “greatest” concern and 18 percent said it is their second greatest concern.

Further, 76 percent said they have been affected by inflation, up from 67 percent who said the same in January. Of those, over one-third said they have been affected “a lot.” Forty-percent said they feel the impacts of inflation most at the grocery store, while 36 percent said they feel it at the gas pump.

Notably, voters do not have an optimistic outlook on that front, as a plurality, 46 percent, said they expect inflation to “stay high” and 35 percent expect it to “get even higher.”

The survey was taken March 23-24, 2022, among 1,990 registered voters and comes as Americans continue to face the highest inflation in roughly four decades and highest case prices since former President Obama’s term.