Mature Consumers Pessimistic about Economy

September 30, 2010

This article is included in these additional categories:

Analytics, Automated & MarTech | Boomers & Older | Data-driven | Financial Services | Staffing | Youth & Gen X

Consumers 65 and older are much more pessimistic about the near-term state of the economy than younger consumers, according to a new Harris Poll.

Oldest Most Pessimistic, Youngest Most Optimistic
Overall, Harris Poll results show that consumers in general do not expect dramatic change to their household’s financial condition in the next six months. Twenty-two percent of consumers think it will get better and 28% think it will get worse, with 50% thinking it will remain the same. And of consumers expecting their household’s financial condition to get better or worse, most expect there to be only a little change, rather than a lot.

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However, matures (age 65 and older) demonstrate substantially more economic pessimism than any other age bracket. Only 8% of matures expect their household’s financial condition to get better and 42% expect it to get worse, with 49% expecting it to stay the same. Less than 0.5% expect it to get much better, while 8% expect it to get much worse.

In contrast, the most optimistic age group, Echo Boomers (age 18-33), differ less dramatically from the norm, with 28% expecting their household’s financial condition to get better, 53% to remain the same, and 19% to get worse. Most Echo Boomers anticipating change also only expect a little change in either direction.

Current Job Market Gets Poor Marks
Regardless of what area of the country they live in, consumers give the current job market poor marks. Overall, 10% say it is good, 21% say it is neither good nor bad, and 69% say it is bad. Furthermore, while only 1% say it is very good, 30% say it is very bad.

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Results do not differ dramatically by region. The South has the highest percentage of consumers saying the current job market is good (12%), while the East has the highest percentage saying it is very good (3%). The West has the highest percentage saying the current job market is bad (75%) and very bad (37%).

Job Market Expectations Similar to Financial Expectations
Expectations for performance of the job market in the next six months are similar to expectations for the economy. Twenty-one percent of consumers say it will be better, with only 2% saying it will be much better. Twenty-six percent say it will be worse, with 6% saying it will be much worse. The remaining 53% say it will remain the same.

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Consumer Sentiment Continues Slow Decline
The Consumer Reports Sentiment Index has gradually declined from 45.2 in July 2010 to 44.1 in September 2010. The most optimistic consumers are between the ages of 18-34 (49.9), along with households with an income of $100,000 or more (50.7). The most pessimistic consumers are between the ages of 35-64 (42.3) or age 65 and older (41.1), and households with an income less than $50,000 (40.4).

The Consumer Reports Sentiment Index captures respondents’ attitudes regarding their financial situation, asking them if they are feeling better or worse off than a year ago. When the index is greater than 50, more consumers are feeling positive about their situation. When it is below 50, more consumers are feeling worse. The Sentiment Index can vary from a high of 100 to a low of 0.

About the Data: This Harris Poll was conducted online within the US between September 14-20, 2010 among 2,620 adults aged 18 and older. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

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