THE ANES GUIDE TO PUBLIC OPINION AND ELECTORAL BEHAVIOR ______________________________________________________ Condition of Nation's Economy Over the Last Year 1980-2008 PERCENT AMONG DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS WHO RESPONDED: 'Gotten Better' Percent of group: '80 '82 '84 '86 '88 '90 '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '08 Males 4 15 51 29 26 5 6 40 43 52 42 5 30 3 Females 3 10 36 19 13 3 3 29 34 43 36 4 18 2 Whites 3 13 47 25 20 3 5 37 38 46 36 4 27 2 Blacks 6 2 14 13 10 6 3 27 37 51 49 3 6 3 Grade Sch./Some High Sch. 4 3 24 10 10 7 6 17 39 39 37 12 33 11 High School Diploma 4 9 36 20 16 3 4 28 33 45 36 4 17 3 Some College, no Degree 3 18 51 28 21 4 5 33 37 50 43 4 25 2 College Degree/ Post-grad 3 17 62 32 27 2 6 55 50 49 39 5 31 1 Income 0-16 Percentile 5 7 22 12 10 4 5 21 35 46 38 ** 16 4 Income 17-33 Percentile 4 10 34 17 16 4 4 33 34 46 37 ** 17 2 Income 34-67 Percentile 4 13 45 23 21 3 5 37 36 47 42 ** 23 1 Income 68-95 Percentile 2 14 53 31 22 3 5 40 42 52 42 ** 33 2 Income 96-100 Percentile 5 19 73 48 28* 5 4 51 50 40 31 ** 39 4 Professionals 3 17 57 31 21 3 5 49 47 49 40 ** 30 ** White Collar 3 14 43 25 22 2 5 31 35 47 37 ** 25 ** Blue Collar 3 11 36 20 18 4 5 33 37 44 42 ** 17 ** Unskilled 5* 6* 24 25 6* 5 5 24 29* 54* 38* ** 16* ** Farmers 10* 2* 46 15 16 4 5 10* 30* 76* 20* ** 22* ** Housewives 4 6 39 17 14 4 2 21 23 41 34 ** 25 ** Union Households 4 10 38 25 16 2 3 38 45 52 46 4 19 4 Non-Union Households 4 13 44 23 19 4 5 34 37 46 37 5 25 2 South 6 12 37 20 18 7 6 31 37 47 37 6 25 3 Nonsouth 3 12 45 25 19 2 4 36 39 47 40 4 23 2 Born 1991 or later ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** 2 Born 1975-1990 ** ** ** ** ** ** 8* 21 34 49 42 4 20 2 Born 1959-1974 4 14 42 25 19 3 5 32 35 46 36 5 26 2 Born 1943-1958 4 15 48 27 20 4 6 38 40 46 39 4 24 2 Born 1927-1942 3 11 44 27 16 4 3 37 39 47 39 6 26 5 Born 1911-1926 3 8 35 14 20 3 3 35 42 51 43 3 15 ** Born 1895-1910 6 7 33 10 15 6 7 30* 51* 15* 34* 0* ** ** Born before 1895 0* 14* 0* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Democrats (incl leaners) 4 7 26 18 11 4 2 37 49 54 50 4 10 1 Independents 4 9 39 21 15 3 3 29 29 47 32 0 15 3 Republicans (incl leaners) 3 23 64 32 29 4 8 33 26 38 26 7 43 4 Liberals 3 11 40 22 16 3 3 53 53 55 46 4 13 2 Moderates 2 13 40 22 19 2 4 37 37 48 41 2 20 2 Conservatives 3 20 61 32 27 6 7 34 35 44 32 8 42 4 * numbers followed by an asterisk indicate 50 or fewer total respondents within group ** indicates question not asked or no cases within group 2008 NOTE: open-ended coding of occupation is not yet complete. .................... Table 4E.1.1 Source: The American National Election Studies NOTE: variable used for race grouping has changed. See Table 1A.3 Table generated: 05AUG10