Most voters say they have had to make financial sacrifices in the past year to make ends meet, according to a new survey from Decision Desk HQ and NewsNation.
In the survey, released on Sunday, 8 percent of likely voters say they’ve made sacrifices this past year “to make ends meet,” including 40 percent who say they’ve made “some” sacrifices and 18 percent who say they’ve made “significant” sacrifices.
Similar shares of Democrats and independents say they made sacrifices this past year to make ends meet. Among surveyed Democrats, 67 percent say they made sacrifices, including 22 percent who say they’ve made significant sacrifices; among independents and “other” voters, 64 percent say they made sacrifices, including 22 percent who made significant sacrifices.
Fewer surveyed Republicans held this view, with 44 percent of Republican respondents saying they made sacrifices, including 33 percent who made some sacrifices and 11 percent who made significant sacrifices.
Even more of a stark party divide arose when respondents were asked whether “you and your family are better or worse off financially than you were a year ago.”
Overall, 39 percent of respondents say they are worse off, 26 percent say they are better off and 34 percent say neither. Only 14 percent of Republican likely voters say they’re worse off — while 46 percent say they’re better off and 40 percent say they’re neither better nor worse off.
Nearly 6 in 10 Democrats say they’re worse off, compared to just 8 percent who say they’re better off. Half of independents say they’re worse off, while 20 percent say they’re better off.
The dim economic mood comes as likely voters say the president’s handling of the economy is worse than they expected — 35 percent say it’s “much worse than expected” while 16 percent say it’s “somewhat worse than expected.”
Meanwhile, less than a third of likely voters say Trump’s handling of the economy is better than expected, including 19 percent who say it’s “much better” and 13 percent who say it’s “somewhat better.”
The president’s overall approval in the poll is 43 percent, while 57 percent of respondents disapprove of his handling of the office.
The survey was conducted on Oct. 27-29, with 1,610 registered voters, including 1,159 likely voters. The margin of error for likely voters is 2.9 percentage points.
