Now a widely held view

More than at any time in recent memory, Americans see a chasm separating the rich from everyone else, with few ropes in sight to make swinging across a possibility. More and more, whether at an Occupy protest or over a latte at Starbucks, the conversation has evolved from the economic fact of “haves and have-nots” to a concern that “you can’t get there from here.”

A new Pew Research Center poll shows that 66% of adults see ”strong” or “very strong” divisions between rich and poor. That’s a jump of 19 points since Pew asked the question in 2009.  Now when Americans look at what’s separating our society, they rank tension between the rich and poor – or as Occupy has memorably renamed it, the 1% and the 99% – as greater than the friction between immigrants and native born, blacks and whites, or young and old.

Pew Senior Editor Richard Morin notes that it wasn’t just the magnitude of the perception change that was surprising, it was the uniformity across demographics: old, young, rich, poor, liberal, conservative… all agreed. “That tells us something is very different about the social landscape,” says Morin. (Pew http://pewresearch.org/pubs/2167/rich-poor-social-conflict-class)

1 percent, two takes:

The climate around the current presidential contest is amplifying phrases we hardly ever heard a year ago: “effective tax rate of 15%”… “I am the 99%”… “Patriotic millionaires.” And we know the 99%/1% branding is here to stay in the cultural conversation when it permeates our humor: now popping up everywhere from internet memes like “the 1 percent cat” to late night top ten lists.

 “The growing inequality is the flip side of something else: shrinking opportunity,” says Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. “Whenever we diminish equality of opportunity, it means that we are not using some of our most valuable assets—our people—in the most productive way possible.”  (http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-201105)

Our SCAN findings show the erosion of one of the rocks of the American Dream – opportunity for the next generation.

34% of adults strongly agree: “Young people today will not be able to live better than their parents” (versus 21% in 2000)

In our child-focused America (80% of all adults say “when you have a child, your own needs come second”), losing the sense of opportunity for our children is a blow to the heart of the psychology of “good life” optimism.

Business Implications: With Americans sensing a rigged game and seeking a level playing field, consumers are desperately seeking trust, ethics, and a sense of opportunity for themselves and their families. The bar is higher than ever as consumers gravitate to “the sure thing” – brands delivering value, quality, and doing it with fairness and transparency.

 

 

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