Few Americans say President Joe Biden’s policies have provided a lot of help to middle-class families — or to poor or wealthy families, for that matter. In fact, the latest Monmouth University Poll found that 51% said the middle class hasn’t benefited at all.
Just 10% of Americans said middle-class families have benefited a lot from Biden’s policies so far, a large drop from the first months of his term, in June 2021, when 19% said the middle class benefited a lot.
Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, summed it up this way.
“Biden’s appeal when he ran for president was that he understands the Average Joe,” he said. “Reaction to his policy agenda, however, suggests it is an area where he remains weak.”
Currently, 38% of Americans describe themselves as middle class, 29% as working class, 14% as poor and 16% as upper middle class or higher. There are only small partisan differences in these self-reports of economic status. However, there are partisan differences in response to a question about financial stability. Overall, 4 in 10 Americans (41%) said they are struggling to remain where they are financially, while 46% felt their finances are stable and just 12% said their situation is improving. The current results are in line with polling conducted last year.
Biden’s current numbers are similar to where former President Donald Trump stood in the first year of his administration (11% said a lot and 53% not at all in December 2017), but those results improved by the end of his term (32% said a lot and 32% not at all).
