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Poll: Middle Class Not Doing As Well As Expected Since Trump Took Office

Monmouth University Poll logo

A Monmouth University poll finds that most Americans are not feeling like they’re reaping the benefits from recent growth in the nation’s economy.

44 percent of those surveyed by Monmouth University say their family has been helped by the economic upturn, while the majority say they’re not benefiting from it.

Poll director Patrick Murray says the middle class aren’t doing as well as the public expected when President Trump took office last year.

“Donald Trump really ran on this that he was going to take care of middle America. And we find just 14 percent of the country feels that middle class families have benefited a lot from President Trump’s policies so far. 45 percent say they’ve benefited a little. And 36 percent say they haven’t benefited at all.”

Murray says five years ago, Americans gave similar responses for how President Obama was treating the middle class.

“The question is will anybody do better than Donald Trump? Is there a perception that things are going to get better under anybody else? We might be entering the end of the road here or do people start turning against Donald Trump at some point in time? It’s not clear right now.” 

A majority of those polled now say wealthy families have benefited a lot from Trump’s policies while the poor aren’t faring as well as many people expected.