Poll: U.S. adults split on past five years

PRINCETON, N.J., June 9 (UPI) -- A nearly equal number of U.S. adults say their standard of living has improved as those who say it declined in the past five years, researchers said Monday.

In a recent poll, 45 percent of the respondents indicated their standard of living had improved since 2003, Gallup reported. Forty-three percent of respondents in the same poll indicated there had been an erosion of their standard of living.

Projecting five years ahead, however, revealed some optimism, Gallup said. Sixty-two percent of the 1,012 U.S. adults surveyed indicated an expectation that their standard of living would improve. Twenty-five percent indicated a pessimistic forecast for their standard of living five years from now.

But senior citizens on fixed incomes were less optimistic, Gallup said. Just 35 percent indicated an expectation that their standard of living would improve, compared with 39 percent who indicated their's would decline.

The survey, conducted May 30-June 1, carries a margin of error of 3 percentage points, Gallup said.