A new poll released Tuesday by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health found that the overwhelming majority of black Americans (86 percent) said they were satisfied with their lives. Nearly 60 percent said they would eventually achieve the American dream of financial security and homeownership. A little more than half of those polled (53 percent) said they felt their lives had gotten better in recent years.
A surprising finding was the desire for a long-term relationship. Only about one-third of respondents in the "prime marrying cohort" (18-49 years old, and either never married, divorced, or widowed) said they were looking for a long-term relationship. Of those, significantly more men than women wanted a relationship - 43% of men and 25% of women.
I think this survey helps dispel some of the myths and negative stereotypes about black Americans. It also shows that are very optimistic. I wish I had that kind of optimism! I would be very interested to see how some of these statistics compare to various subsets of the American population - by race, by age, by gender, by economic status. I wonder how many other subgroups of Americans have an 86% satisfaction rate with their lives?
Sources:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/06/04/188301149/new-survey-takes-a-snapshot-of-the-view-from-black-america
http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/surveys_and_polls/2013/rwjf406076
No comments:
Post a Comment