US — A new survey conducted by The Harris Poll for the Guardian found that 95% of Americans believe the United States is experiencing an affordability crisis. The poll also indicated that 57% of Americans think the economy is worsening.

The survey showed that about half of Democrats, Republicans, and independents report difficulty affording daily necessities, such as gasoline and groceries. This reflects a shift from February figures, when 46% of Americans believed the economy was worsening. Currently, 16% of polled Americans believe the economy is improving, a decrease from 28% in February.

Pessimism regarding the cost-of-living crisis extended to the federal government, with two-thirds of Americans expressing little faith in its ability to improve the situation. Among Republicans, 49% shared this low confidence in government intervention. A separate breakdown indicated that 49% of Republicans thought the economy was improving in February; this number dropped to 27% in the new poll. Concurrently, 38% of Republicans now state the economy is getting worse, compared to 22% who held that view in February.

Rural Americans were the group most likely to report a worsening economy, with 64% holding this view, up from 46% in February. This demographic also indicated they were the most likely to believe that good job opportunities had disappeared over the past year and that tariffs had negatively affected American manufacturing jobs in the past year. Furthermore, about half of those polled reported struggling to afford their debt. Among independent voters who see an affordability crisis, 54% stated that neither political party offered a solution.