CBS News - Breaking news, 24/7 live streaming news & top ...



60 Minutes/Vanity Fair PollThe American DreamFebruary 6-10, 2015Which of the following comes closest to how you would describe the American Dream today? – 1. Giving your kids a better life, 2. Having a successful business or career, 3. Becoming wealthy overnight, 4. Owning a home, 5. Doing better than your parents, or 6. Becoming famous.The American Dream today is about giving your kids a better life.Forget about bettering yourself, the American Dream is about making things better for your offspring. 44% of Americans overall pick giving their kids a better life as how they would describe the American Dream today – twice as many as the second choice option of having a successful business or career (22%), and far ahead of doing better than your parents (13%), owning a home (10%), becoming wealthy overnight (5%), or becoming famous (2%).It is the choice picked by a clear majority of parents of children under the age of 18 (59%), but it is also the top choice of non-parents as well (38%). How Would You Describe the American Dream Today?TotalParentsNon-parentsGiving your kids a better life44%59%38%Having a successful business/career222023Doing better than your parents13 615Owning a home101010Becoming wealthy overnight 5 2 6Becoming famous 2 1 2Overall, do you think you have a better life than your parents, or do you think your parents had a better life than you?Most Americans think they have a better life than their parents did.It may not be how most Americans define the American Dream, but most nonetheless think they have a better life than their parents. 66% of Americans think they have a better life than their parents did, while just 19% think their parents had a better life than they do. A majority of Americans of all income levels think they have a better life than their parents did, but higher income Americans believe this in higher percentages. While 63% of Americans earning less than $50,000 a year think their lives are better than their parents, this rises to 73% of Americans earning $100,000 a year or more.Who Has Had Better Life?Total<$50K$50K-$100K$100K+You66%63%70%73%Your parents19241516The same (vol.)11101010Which one of the following is most important in order to achieve the American Dream? – 1. Having a college education, 2. Being white, 3. Having health insurance, 4. Speaking English, 5. Being an American citizen, 6. Being born wealthy.Get educated if you want to attain the American Dream.But far more Americans think the key to the American Dream isn’t wealth, but education. To nearly half of all Americans, having a college education is the most important factor in achieving the American Dream. 47% pick it as the key to success, far ahead of being an American citizen (22%), being born wealthy (9%), speaking English (7%), having health insurance (6%), or being white (3%). Americans who have college degrees are particularly likely to think their degree matters. 57% of college graduates say their diploma is the most important factor, though a college degree is the top choice of those who have not graduated college as well (43%).Which is Most Important in Achieving the American Dream?TotalNo DegreeCollege Degree+A college education47%43%57%Being an American citizen222416Being born wealthy 910 7Speaking English 7 6 8Having health insurance 6 8 3Being white 3 4 3Which one of the following people do you think most embodies the American Dream? – 1. Entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey. 2. Walmart founder Sam Walton. 3. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 4. Civil rights activist Rosa Parks, 5. Apple founder Steve Jobs, 6. Basketball Star Michael Jordan, 7. Television personality Kim Kardashian.Who best embodies the American Dream? Steve Jobs comes in first.Despite the importance that Americans attribute to education, when it comes to embodying the American Dream, a college drop-out is at the top of the list. Out of a list of seven candidates, 24% of Americans pick Apple Founder and Reed College drop-out Steve Jobs as the person who most embodies the American Dream, just ahead of television tycoon Oprah Winfrey (20%), who in turn just edges out Walmart founder Sam Walton (18%). Others on the list include civil rights activist Rosa Parks (15%), Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (7%), basketball superstar Michael Jordan (5%), and television personality Kim Kardashian (1%).There are some differences based on political orientation. While Steve Jobs – whose motto at Apple was “Think Different” – is the top choice of independents (26%), Republicans (33%) choose Same Walton, while Democrats choose Oprah Winfrey (29%).Which of These People Best Embodies the American Dream?TotalRepsDemsIndsSteve Jobs24%26%21%26%Oprah Winfrey20112919Sam Walton1833 916Rosa Parks15 81917Ruth Bader Ginsburg 7 511 5Michael Jordan 5 9 4 5Kim Kardashian 1 * 1 2In which one of the following years do you think the American Dream was closest to reaching its peak? Today is when America is closest to reaching its peak.Some say America’s best days are behind them, but for many Americans, there has never been a time at which America was closer to achieving the American Dream. When asked when the American Dream was closest to reaching its peak, 39% pick today - the top choice from a list of other possible years in American history, beating out 1965 (30%) by nine percentage points. Further down on the list are 1945 (14%) – when the U.S. emerged from World War II briefly as the world’s only nuclear superpower, 1776 (6%) – the year America proclaimed its independence from Britain, 1865 (3%) – which ended the American Civil War, and 1491 (1%) – just before Christopher Columbus’s discovery of Hispania began European colonization of the Western Hemisphere.There are political differences however. Democrats (51%) overwhelmingly pick today as closest to the American Dream, but Republicans and independents are not so sure. Instead they are divided between today and 1965.Which Year Did the American Dream Come Closest to Its Peak?TotalRepsDemsIndsToday39%36%51%35%1965303623331945141711141776 610 5 51865 3 4 2 31491 1 * * 1On balance, are the immigrants coming to the U.S. today mostly helping the country, mostly hurting the country, or not having much of an effect either way?Republicans think immigrants hurt the U.S., while Democrats think they help.Do immigrants coming to the U.S. today help or hurt the U.S? the U.S may be a country of immigrants, but Americans are divided on this question, with 35% saying immigrants mostly hurt the U.S., and 32% say they the mostly help. Another 29% say they are not having much of an effect either way.Most Republicans (53%) overwhelming think immigrants are mostly hurting the U.S., and slightly more independents agree with them (36%) than disagree (28%). Democrats, on the other hand, are far more likely to think immigrants are mostly helping the country (45%).Hispanics are particularly likely to think immigrants help rather than hurt the U.S. – 68% think so.Do Immigrants Help or Hurt the U.S.?TotalRepsDemsIndsHispanicsMostly hurting35%53%20%36%68%Mostly helping32204528 9No effect2921303122Do you think your ancestors who first came to the U.S. would be proud of what their descendants have achieved, or not?Most Americans think their ancestors would be proud of them.Americans think their ancestors would be happy with the way things are today, at least when it comes to how their descendants are doing. Three in four Americans think their ancestors who first came to the U.S. would be proud of what their descendants had achieved; just 20% do not.Older Americans are a little more confident in the achievements of their genealogical line since it first arrived in America: 82% of Americans 50 and older think their ancestors would be proud, compared to 71% of those under the age of 50.Would Your First American Ancestors Be Proud of You?Total18-4950+Yes76%71%82%No202515Looking back, if you had lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s, do you think you would have handled economic insecurity better than most people, worse than most people, or about the same as most people?A majority of Americans think they would have weathered the Great Depression as well as most.Most Americans today think they would have fared about as well as one generation of Americans that came before them – those who endured the privations of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Though just 31% think they would have handled the economic insecurities of the Depression better than most people, most – 60% - think they would have fared about the same if they had lived through it. Just 7% think they would have handled the Great Depression worse than most. Americans 65 and older – some of whom may have lived part of their lives during the Great Depression – are less confident. They are less inclined to think they would have handled things better than most than younger Americans. How Would You Have Handled the Great Depression?Total18-6465+Better than most31%33%20%Worse than most 7 8 4The same605869Do you think living in the United States gives you the best chance at a successful life, or do you think you might have a better chance at a successful life if you lived in another country?The best chance for a successful life is in the U.S.When it comes to having a successful life, most Americans wouldn’t trade the American Dream for that of another country. 84% of Americans think living in the United States gives them the best chance at a successful life, while just 11% think they’d have a better chance at a successful life if they lived in another country. Republicans are the most bullish about living in the U.S. – 92% think the United States gives them the best chance, compared to 81% of independents and 84% of Democrats.Where Do You Have the Best Chance at a Successful Life?TotalRepsDemsIndsUnited States84%92%84%81%Another country11 41314If Canada and the U.S. were to merge and become one country, which would you prefer? For Canada to become a part of the U.S. and come under U.S. law, or For the U.S. to become a part of Canada and come under Canadian law?Americans think Canada should join them rather than the other way around.Americans apparently prefer the American Dream to the Canadian one. If the two countries were to merge, 65% of Americans would want Canada to become a part of the United States, while just 22% would want the United States to become a province of Canada.Majorities of Republicans (76%), Democrats (69%), and independents (57%) all would rather Canada become part of the U.S. than the other way around.What Should Happen if the U.S. and Canada Merged?TotalRepsDemsIndsCanada should become part of the U.S.65%76%69%57%The U.S. should become part of Canada22152226If you had to remove one of the following from the U.S. Bill of Rights, which would you choose? 1. Freedom of speech, 2. Freedom of religion, 3. The right to bear arms, 4. Trial by jury.The right to bear arms would be the first to go in an abridged Bill of Rights.One thing the Canadian Constitution does not guarantee is the right to bear arms, and if Americans had to remove one of four provisions from the U.S. Bill of Rights, more would pick the right to bear arms (37%) than trial by jury (14%), freedom of speech (10%), or freedom of religion (9%) – though 28% volunteer that they wouldn’t agree to eliminate any of these. Democrats are particularly receptive to issuing a line-item veto on the Second Amendment: 54% of Democrats would get rid of the right to bear arms, compared to 34% of independents and just 18% of Republicans.Which Part of the Bill of Rights Would You Get Rid of First?TotalRepsDemsIndsRight to bear arms37%18%54%34%Trial by jury1415 818Freedom of speech1011 9 9Freedom of religion 910 9 8None of these (vol.)28451826____________________________________________________________________________This poll was conducted by telephone from February 6-10, 2015 among 1,002 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Media, PA. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus 3 percentage points. The error for other subgroups may be higher. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Poll.60 Minutes/Vanity Fair QuestionsThe American DreamFebruary 6-10, 2015VF-01. Which of the following comes closest to how you would describe 'the American Dream' today?* TOTAL RESPONDENTS * TotalMaleFemale2/2011 % % % %Giving your kids a better life44434452Having a successful business or career22242120Doing better than your parents131114 7Owning a home101011 7Becoming wealthy overnight 5 6 4 8Becoming famous 2 2 2 3Don't know/no answer 4 4 5 3VF-02. Overall, do you think you have a better life than your parents, or do you think your parents had a better life than you?********** Income ***********Total<$50K$50K-$100K$100K+ % % %%You have a better life66637073Your parents had a better life19241516The same11101010Don’t know/no answer 3 3 4 1VF-03. Which one of the following is most important in order to achieve the American Dream?***** College Education ******TotalNo DegreeCollege Degree+ % % %Having a college education474357Being an American citizen222416Being born wealthy 910 7Speaking English 7 6 8Having health insurance 6 8 3Being white 3 4 3Don’t know/no answer 6 6 6VF-04. Which one of the following people do you think most embodies the American Dream?***** Party ID ******TotalRepsDemsInds % % % %Entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey20112919Walmart founder Sam Walton1833 916Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg 7 511 5Civil rights activist Rosa Parks15 81917Apple founder Steve Jobs24262126Basketball Star Michael Jordan 5 9 4 5Television personality Kim Kardashian 1 * 1 2Don’t know/no answer 8 7 611*Less than 0.5%VF-05. In which one of the following years do you think the American Dream was closest to reaching its peak?*** TOTAL RESPONDENTS *** ***** Party ID ******TotalRepsDemsInds % % % %1491 1 * * 11776 610 5 51865 3 4 2 3194514171114196530362333Today39325135Don’t know/No answer 6 1 7 8VF-06. On balance, are the immigrants coming to the U.S. today mostly helping the country, mostly hurting the country, or not having much of an effect either way? Helping32204528Hurting35532036No Effect29213031Don’t know/no answer 5 6 4 5VF-07. Do you think your ancestors who first came to the U.S. would be proud of what their descendants have achieved, or not? *** Age ***Total18-4950+ % % %Yes, proud767182No, not proud202515Don’t know/no answer 4 5 3VF-08. Looking back, if you had lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s, do you think you would have handled economic insecurity better than most people, worse than most people, or about the same as most people?Total18-6465+ % % %Better313320Worse 7 8 4Same605869Don’t know/no answer 2 1 6VF-09. Do you think living in the United States gives you the best chance at a successful life, or do you think you might have a better chance at a successful life if you lived in another country?***** Party ID ******TotalRepsDemsInds % % % %U.S.84928481Another country11 41314Don’t know/no answer 4 4 3 5VF-10. If Canada and the U.S. were to merge and become one country, which would you prefer? For Canada to become a part of the U.S. and come under U.S. law, or For the U.S. to become a part of Canada and come under Canadian law?*** TOTAL RESPONDENTS *** ***** Party ID ******TotalRepsDemsInds % % % %Canada to become a part of the U.S.65766957U.S. to become a part of Canada22152226Don’t know/no answer13 9 917VF-11. If you had to remove one of the following from the U.S. Bill of Rights, which would you choose?Freedom of speech1011 9 9Freedom of religion 910 9 8The right to bear arms37185434Trial by jury14 15 818None of these (vol.)28451826Don’t know/no answer 3 1 1 4Total respondents:1,002 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download