The Gallup Podcast

Many Americans don’t think about retirement until it looms in their immediate future. So ow confident are Americans that they will have enough money when they retire? And how much are they relying on Social Security and 401(k)s? When is the ideal time to withdraw from Social Security? And what can we do to increase Americans’ financial literacy? Annamaria Lusardi, Denit Trust Chair of Economics & Accountancy at the George Washington University School of Business, joins the podcast to discuss these questions and others. And later, are Americans already accepting the fact that gas prices are going to go up even higher this year?

Why is it important that we measure the number of people in the U.S. who identify as LGBT? And what are the challenges involved in measuring this population? Dr. Gary Gates, one of the nation’s most renowned experts on the geography and demography of the LGBT population and coauthor of The Gay & Lesbian Atlas, joins the podcast to explain the significance of these measures and to discuss the changes Gallup has seen over hundreds of thousands of interviews since 2012. Later, Gallup’s Chief Methodologist Stephanie Marken describes in-depth how Gallup has partnered with UCLA to tackle the unique challenge of measuring the transgender population.

This week, Dr. Frank Newport examines in-depth five key aspects of current American public opinion. What’s behind Donald Trump’s latest job approval ratings? What percentage of Americans are paying attention to his tweets? How should Americans’ feelings about complex foreign policy initiatives be taken into account? How much are Americans’ views of traditional social and sexual norms shifting? And, a look at month-to-month changes in Americans’ views of guns as the nation’s top problem.

What the whole world wants is a good job, but how do you measure what a good job is? Gallup World Poll Editor Julie Ray explores the latest findings from the 2018 Global Great Jobs Briefing. What regions of the world have the highest and lowest percentages of adults with good jobs? And what is a great job? Later, do Americans view their personal financial health through a political lens?

Gallup’s presidential job approval rating is an enduring staple of political assessment. Where does President Donald Trump’s approval rating stand after five quarters in office? How does partisanship affect Americans’ views of the president’s performance? And how do his job approval ratings compare with previous presidents? Gallup Senior Editor Jeff Jones breaks down the Gallup trend spanning many decades. Later, find out what percentage of Americans have money in the stock market. Is this figure up or down from prior years?

How many adults worldwide don’t have access to basic financial services? And why does financial inclusion matter? The World Bank’s Global Findex report answers these questions and more using Gallup World Poll data. Joe Daly, Gallup partner and manager of the worldwide project, explains the new report’s findings and where disparities in financial inclusion still exist. Later, the recently passed tax reform law will have an impact on many Americans’ taxes -- but most adults are unclear about how it will affect them.

A new exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum revisits polls from the 1930s and 1940s, showing what Americans knew about the Holocaust and what they believed the U.S. should have done to aid Jewish refugees. Dr. Daniel Greene, the guest exhibition curator at the museum, joins the podcast to discuss Americans’ views and the broader cultural and economic environment in the U.S. in the late 1930s and 1940s. Later, what percentage of Facebook users say they are concerned about their privacy being violated? Have views shifted since 2011?

Americans’ views on climate change are highly polarized, raising the issue of how leaders should address the divisive topic. In this episode, Alice C. Hill, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and former special assistant to President Barack Obama, shares her perspective on how government efforts to build resilience to catastrophic events can navigate a path forward in the context of divided public opinion. Later, find out the percentage of Americans who believe the federal government should intervene to limit compensation received by senior executives of U.S. companies. Has this figure changed over time?

One of the starkest displays of political polarization in the U.S. is on the subject of climate change. But it wasn’t always this way. Gallup’s tracking on the issue reveals periods in the 1990s when Democrats’ and Republicans’ views on the topic were not so different. So, how did the polarization come about? Dr. Riley Dunlap, Regents Professor of sociology and Dresser Professor Emeritus at Oklahoma State University, breaks down the political trend on climate change and discusses the reasons behind it. Later in this episode, learn what percentage of Americans now say young people will have a better life than their parents.