Congress and Wall Street Are Blamed the Most for Americans’ Current Financial Situation

As the New Year dawns, many people take stock of their financial situation and, as other Harris Polls have shown, do not feel secure about their household’s financial situation. One issue when it comes to finances is who to blame for the current situation -- and considering the past 18 months, there is a lot of blame to go around.

“How much do you blame each of the following groups or individuals for your financial situation?”

Almost three-quarters of Americans (72%) say they blame Congress for their financial situation while 71% blame Wall Street. And over two in five adults (43%) blame Wall Street a great deal for their financial situation while 38% say the same about Congress. Congress may be controlled by Democrats right now but they are not given much leeway by their partisans with 70% of Democrats blaming them along with three-quarters of both Republicans (75%) and Independents (75%).

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll^® of 2,276 adults surveyed online between December 4 and 17, 2009 by Harris Interactive^®.

While Wall Street and Congress rise to the top they are not the only ones who get blame. Over three in five Americans (63%) blame large corporations and 60% blame state government for their financial situation. Just under half blame the President (47%) and local government (47%) for their financial situation.

Three groups manage to avoid most of the blame and they are the ones closest to most people. Over four in five adults (85%) say they do not blame their family for their financial situation while 71% say they do not blame their employer and 61% do not blame themselves. Two-thirds of Americans (66%) say they do not blame their family at all for their financial situation.

Partisan and Generational differences

Looking at this by political party, there may be no difference in Congressional blame, but there is one with regard to blaming President Obama. Only 32% of Democrats say they blame the president for their financial situation compared to 67% of Republicans and 48% of Independents. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to blame Wall Street (77% vs. 64%) and large corporations (75% vs. 50%). Three-quarters of Independents blame Wall Street (76%) and Congress (75%). Independents are also more likely to blame themselves (43%) for their financial situation than are both Democrats (39%) and Republicans (35%).

There is also an interesting generational difference that emerges. Matures (those aged 64 and older) are much more likely than Echo Boomers (those aged 18-32) to blame Congress (80% vs. 59%), Wall Street (79% vs. 59%), and the President (56% vs. 43%). On the reverse side, Echo Boomers are more likely than Matures to blame themselves (42% vs. 33%), their employer (33% vs. 16%) and their family (18% vs. 12%).