Nearly half of all Argentines foresee a "worse" economic future for their children, a Pew Research Center study has found.
In a report titled A Decade After the Financial Crisis, Economic Confidence Rebounds in Many Countries, Pew found that "economies have gradually recovered and the public mood has rebounded, especially in some of the hardest- hit advanced economies".
Argentina is currently experiencing a financial crisis with soaring inflation and a sharp devaluation of the national currency against the dollar.
Of the Argentines polled, 17 percent consider “the current economic situation is good” and 37 percent believe their “children will be better off financially”. However, 49 percent believed their "children will be worse off", Pew's data revealed.
The US-based research centre polled people in 27 countries and found that "among the emerging markets polled, slightly more (42%) anticipate a brighter economic future for today’s children, but, still far from a majority hold this view”.
The data also showed a drop in expectations among younger people, with 42 percent of Argentines aged 18-29 foreseeing a worse situation for future generations. Among people aged 30-49, this figure was 39 percent and for people over 51, it was 31 percent. The data represent a 11-percentage-point gap.
COMPARISON WITH PAST
When it came to comparisons to the past, 46 percent of Argentines considered "average people’s finances are worse today than 20 years ago", while 31 percent said there was "no change" and another 19 percent felt the country was "better" off.
Pew also found that the "post-Great Recession rebound in economic sentiment slowed" in 2018, including in Argentina.
Among Argentines in 2009, 20 percent agreed "the current economic situation in our country is good". In 2017, this sentiment had risen to 23 percent. However, in 2018 just 17 percent of Argentines agreed, the Pew data revealed.
OVERSEAS
In general terms, Pew found "more positive public feelings about the current economy have not erased concern about the future".
"In 18 of the 27 nations surveyed, including 80% of the French, 76% of the Japanese and 72% of the Spanish, half or more of the public believes that when children today in their country grow up they will be worse off financially than their parents", it found.
Economic nostalgia is also widespread, according to the research centre.
"In roughly half the countries surveyed, a plurality to majority of the public says the financial situation of average people today is worse, compared with the pre-crisis era 20 years ago. This includes 87% of Greeks, 75% of Tunisians and 72% of Italians", Pew reported.
Pew conducted its polling among 30,133 respondents in 27 countries from May 14 to Aug. 12, 2018. The nations included in the survey account for roughly two-thirds of the global gross domestic product.
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that reports on issues, attitudes and trends concerning the USA and the world.
-TIMES
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