Many have said it and many more have thought it and seven in ten Americans (69%) say that sometimes, an isolated cabin in the woods without internet and cable TV seems like the perfect lifestyle. And, why? Well, almost nine in ten (87%) say this is one of the most divisive times in the United States in their lifetime. This doesn’t change much by age… nine in ten of those 18-35 years old (90%) and 45-54 years old (89%) feel this way as do almost nine in ten of those 35-44 years old (86%) and 55 and older (86%). This is from a survey conducted of 1,082 U.S. adults, 18 and older between October 18 and 21, 2018.
When compared to last year, half of Americans (49%) say their life in general is better while over one-third (36%) say it’s about the same and almost half say their personal financial situation is better (47%) while over one-third (37%) say it’s about the same. Over two in five (42%) say things in the country in general are better than last year while one-quarter (25%) say it’s about the same and two in five (40%) say their levels of stress are better while almost two in five (38%) say it’s about the same.
One big difference in all these is the gender divide. Men are more likely than women to say their life in general (56% vs. 42%), their financial situation (56% vs. 38%), things in the country (51% vs. 34%) and their levels of stress (48% vs. 33%) are better than they were last year. Two in four women (39%) say things in the country are worse compared to one-quarter (26%) of men.
Some of the reason for that isolated cabin may be seven in ten Americans (70%) find they pay attention to political issues more today than they have in the past. Half of Americans (51%), however, have stopped paying attention to political issues because it was getting overwhelming, yet it seems that some information is getting through.
Through it all, there is a positive. In the past month, three in five Americans (61%) have felt happiness often, two in five (41%) contentment and almost two in five (37%) joy. While over one-third (36%) have felt sadness often in the past month, smaller numbers have felt anger (26%), disgust (21%) and rage (12%).
