Almost three-fourths of Americans believe that the economy is rigged.
According to research by Marketplace and Edison Research that was published in May, 71 percent of people believe that the U.S. economy is “rigged in favor of certain groups.”
Researchers asked this question with three options for responses:
Which of the following statements come closer to your views?
– The economic system in the U.S. is rigged in favor of certain groups.
– The economic system in the U.S. is fair to all Americans.
– Don’t know
The data gets even more interesting when you look at how it breaks down across gender, age group and employment status.
Seventy-five percent of the women surveyed believe the economy is rigged, compared to 67 percent of men. Among different age groups, 79 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds believe the economy is rigged, closely followed by 78 percent of 55- to 64-year-olds. Broken down by race, 83 percent of black Americans believe the economy is rigged, followed by 70 percent of white people and 61 percent of Hispanics.
Data like this is likely why presidential hopefuls have taken to talking about the “rigged” economy and what they’ll do to equalize things—of course the two major candidates approach the solution from vastly different perspectives. Still, just about everyone is agreeing now that the U.S. economy isn’t fair for everyone.
