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What Americans Think about Daily Life

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 55% of American Adults consider the Fourth of July to be one of our nation's most important holidays – up from 53% last year – while just six percent (6%) think the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 is one of our least important holidays. Thirty-six percent (36%) see it somewhere in between. Over the years, Americans have consistently ranked the Fourth of July second only to Christmas as the nation’s most important holiday. Only 34% of American Adults believe the Founding Fathers would consider the United States a success, but that’s up from 27% a year ago. Forty percent (40%) now say the Founding Fathers – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, among others – would view America as a failure, down from 53% last year. Twenty-six percent (26%) are undecided.
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By rights we ought to celebrate June 21st as our nation's birthday, but what can you do? July 4th is simply more dramatic.
 
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 59% of American Adults believe it is important for young people to go to a summer camp, including 19% who say summer camp is Very Important. That finding is up from last year, when 51% thought it was important for kids to go to summer camp. Thirty-four percent (34%) now believe summer camp is not important for young people. Fifty-one percent (51%) of adults say either they or an immediate family went to a summer camp for children – down from 45% last year – while 43% never attended summer camp. Seventy-three percent (73%) of adults who have attended summer camp themselves, or have an immediate family member who has, think it’s important for young people to go to summer camp. Just 44% who have never been to summer camp agree.
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The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only seven percent (7%) of American Adults pay a lot of attention to “influencers,” who get paid to promote products on Internet sites like Instagram and TikTok, while 17% pay some attention to them. Twenty-nine percent (29%) don’t pay very much attention to social media influencers, and 45% pay them no attention at all. Seventeen percent (17%) of Americans have considered pursuing a career as a social media influencer, while 77% have not. Among adults under 40, however, 36% have thought about an influencer career, compared to single-digit percentages of those 40 and older.
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The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 53% of American Adults who work full-time believe they will be earning more money a year from today. That’s basically unchanged from February. Eleven percent (11%) of full-time workers expect they’ll be earning less a year from now, while 33% expect their wages to remain the same. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of working adults say they have a better opportunity for career advancement by staying within their current company. Twenty-seven percent (27%) now think the best opportunity for career advancement is by going to work for someone else, up slightly from February, while 14% are not sure. Among all adults, 54% say they have a full-time job, up from 50% in February. Forty-three percent now (43%) say they are not currently employed full-time.
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The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 66% of American Adults rate the quality of drinking water where they live as good or excellent, while just eight percent (8%) describe it as poor. In 2016, 75% rated their local drinking water good or excellent. Eighty-six percent (86%) rate the water supply in their area as dependable, with 60% who say it’s Very Dependable. In 2016, 94% rated their local water supply dependable. Just 10% now say their water supply is not very or Not At All Dependable, but that finding is double the number from seven years ago. The city of Houston this week implemented water restrictions in response to an extreme drought. However, 69% of Americans say their area has never experienced water shortages that affected how much water they could use. Twenty-four percent (24%) have experienced such water shortages in their area.
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The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 50% of American Adults celebrate Labor Day as a holiday honoring the contribution of workers in society, while 36% view it as marking the unofficial end of summer. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided. These findings have changed little since last year. Twenty-seven percent (27%) consider Labor Day to be one of our nation's most important holidays – up from 25% last year. Twelve percent (12%) view Labor Day as one of our least important holidays and 55% see it somewhere in between. Over the years, most Americans have ranked Christmas as the nation’s most important holiday, followed by the Fourth of July.
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Doug64 said:
This is my third thread dealing with Rasmussen polls. My first (What Americans Think about Politics) and second (What Americans Think about President Biden) are solidly political, naturally enough, but not all Rasmussen polls are political--occasionally they deal with anything from who we think will win the Superbowl to whether we should have a separate holiday for Abraham Lincoln's birthday. As with the first thread, I have the same premium membership as journalists use to get access to the crosstabs they use in their articles, so I can provide them if anyone professes an interest.

And the first poll in this thread, what American Adults think of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock.
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When I was younger, President’s Day was Washington’s Birthday. A federal holiday. Lincoln’s birthday was noted on all calendars, but wasn’t a federal holiday. Then in 1971, Washington’s Birthday was changed to President’s day. I’d rather they just left it alone.
 
Perotista said:
When I was younger, President’s Day was Washington’s Birthday. A federal holiday. Lincoln’s birthday was noted on all calendars, but wasn’t a federal holiday. Then in 1971, Washington’s Birthday was changed to President’s day. I’d rather they just left it alone.
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Ditto that, I remember the same and have long thought that changing Washington's Day to President's Day was a big step backwards, we have had some godawful presidents. Of course, I've also long thought that June 21st--the date the ninth state ratified the US Constitution and so it went into effect--is just as important as July 4th and should be recognized as such. Though with that being so close to July 4th we could instead go with September 17th, the day the Constitutional Convention ended with 38 out of 41 delegates signing it. One of the greatest political miracles of all time, Machiavelli would have been absolutely stunned.
 
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 52% of American Adults have a favorable impression of Taylor Swift, including 21% who have a Very Favorable opinion of her. Twenty-eight percent (28%) view the singer unfavorably, including 14% with a Very Unfavorable impression, and another 20% are not sure. The NFL has so embraced the Swift-Kelce pairing that Kelce, an all-pro tight end for the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, has complained the league is “overdoing” its promotion. However, only six percent (6%) of Americans think the Swift-Kelce relationship is bad for the NFL, while 20% believe it will be good for the league. Sixty-six percent (66%) say the couple’s romance (which Swift’s young fans have dubbed “Tayvis”) won’t make much difference for the NFL.
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Doug64 said:
Ditto that, I remember the same and have long thought that changing Washington's Day to President's Day was a big step backwards, we have had some godawful presidents. Of course, I've also long thought that June 21st--the date the ninth state ratified the US Constitution and so it went into effect--is just as important as July 4th and should be recognized as such. Though with that being so close to July 4th we could instead go with September 17th, the day the Constitutional Convention ended with 38 out of 41 delegates signing it. One of the greatest political miracles of all time, Machiavelli would have been absolutely stunned.
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I’d never given that any thought. Yeah, under the Articles of Confederation we still basically weren’t a nation, just 13 colonies or states with each governing themselves. It was a situation where if 12 states went along with something, one state could veto the whole thing. One state or colony had veto power. No one back then looked on themselves as Americans or the nation as the United States, more as a confederation of colonies.

It is a miracle that the constitution as adopted. This short description of the articles of confederation

Articles of Confederation (1777)

EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Articles of Confederation; 3/1/1781; Miscellaneous Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774 - 1789; Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, Record Group 360; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. View All...
www.archives.gov www.archives.gov
 
@Perotista, yeah, we weren't so much the United States as we were the united States, the closest thing we had to Americans were some of the former soldiers of the Continental Army and Benjamin Franklin (and Alexander Hamilton, now that I think about it). The Continental Congress wasn't so much a legislature as a collection of diplomats from the thirteen states, each and every one fully sovereign.
 
Doug64 said:
@Perotista, yeah, we weren't so much the United States as we were the united States, the closest thing we had to Americans were some of the former soldiers of the Continental Army and Benjamin Franklin (and Alexander Hamilton, now that I think about it). The Continental Congress wasn't so much a legislature as a collection of diplomats from the thirteen states, each and every one fully sovereign.
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About the only thing the continental congress was united on was the war against England. Then it was what is best for each colony. Each had their colony’s best interest at heart. I don’t think anyone recognized themselves as Americans until around the Spanish-American War. Until then they always referred to themselves after the revolution as New Yorkers, Georgians, Virginians, Pennsylvanians etc. It was from the state they were from, not the country. If someone was visiting France let’s say, when asked where they were from, they answer with their state, not country.

They’re loyalty was to their state more than country until around 1900. It’s almost impossible today for anyone to understand that today. Even after the constitution the states were aligned regionally, not as a single country yet. You seen this especially in the war of 1812 with New England almost seceding from the union and then of course, the civil war.
 
@Perotista, I think you're mostly pushing the loyalty to state over nation a little too far out, it faded fairly quickly after the Civil War. Though there were naturally regional variations--Utah was mostly more loyal to church than nation at least up to the 1900s (and may still be, though if so it's hidden by a lack of points of conflict), and Texas ... ! ;)
 
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that just 31% of American Adults are at least somewhat likely to buy or lease a car in the next year, down from 35% in March 2021 and seven points lower than in March 2017. The new finding includes 13% who are Very Likely to get a new car, compared to 16% in March 2021. But most Americans (62%) still have no plans to get a new car, with 34% who say it’s Not At All Likely. Democrats (40%) are more likely than Republicans (30%) to say they’re at least somewhat likely to buy or lease a car in the next year. That’s consistent with the findings of our Consumer Spending Update, which have found Democrats more optimistic than Republicans about the economy since President Joe Biden took office. In 2017, when Donald Trump was president, Republicans (44%) were more likely than Democrats (37%) to say they were in the market for a new car.
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The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 69% of American Adults believe Halloween is a holiday for both kids and adults, while 25% say it’s just for kids. The percentage who view Halloween as an all-ages occasion is up from 63% last year. Twenty-nine percent (29%) of adults will be spending their time on Halloween passing out candy, while 15% will take children trick-or-treating. Twelve percent (12%) plan to attend a Halloween party and 11% will be watching horror movies. Twenty-nine percent (29%) say they won’t be doing anything special for the holiday. Twelve percent (12%) believe Halloween is one of the nation's most important holidays,while 37% consider it one of the least important holidays and 46% rank it somewhere in between.
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HIP56948 said:
You have to sign-in or create an account to read it. Frankly, when reading what Americans like or dislike, I get depressed. With all due respect.
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why?
 
HIP56948 said:
Frankly, when reading what Americans like or dislike, I get depressed. With all due respect.
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No due respect needed. The fact that 36% of American Adults agree with Smith’s actions after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife is outrageous and, yeah, depressing.
 
HIP56948 said:
You have to sign-in or create an account to read it. Frankly, when reading what Americans like or dislike, I get depressed. With all due respect.
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Rumpel said:
why?
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Because Rasmussen is a business, not a charity? But not all of the reports are mostly behind paywalls (you can see the beginning with the gist of the result), and since I've paid for the membership you can ask me for demographic details. (That assumes you're asking about the paywall and not why HIP56948 gets depressed, of course.)
 
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 45% of American Adults say they have already started their holiday gift shopping, while 53% haven’t started shopping yet. The number who have started their holiday shopping in mid-November is up from 42% last year. The annual crowds at retail stores on Black Friday may be smaller this year because nearly two-thirds (64%) of Americans plan to do at least half of their holiday shopping online. That includes 25% who expect to do most of their gift shopping online and eight percent (8%) who say they’ll purchase all their holiday gifts online. Another 22% will do some online shopping for the holidays, and just 14% won’t do any. Last year, 58% expected to do at least half their holiday shopping online.
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The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 22% of American Adults plan to travel away from home for the holiday, down from 27% last year. Seventy-eight percent (78%) will be getting together with family or friends this Thanksgiving. Forty-six percent (46%) consider Thanksgiving to be one of our nation’s most important holidays, while 10% think it’s one of the least important holidays and 41% rank it somewhere in between. Americans have consistently ranked Christmas as the nation’s most important holiday, followed by the Fourth of July. Thanksgiving usually ranks fourth, behind Memorial Day.
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The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 48% of American Adults who regularly use the platform say it’s gotten better under Musk’s ownership, while 28% think it’s gotten worse. Twenty-one percent (21%) believe Musk’s ownership of the site formerly known as Twitter has not made much difference. Musk reportedly paid $44 billion to purchase Twitter in October 2022. has since renamed it as X, and 40% of regular users say that was a good idea. However, 44% say renaming Twitter as X was a bad idea. Sixteen percent (16%) are not sure.
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