Survey shows Americans 'miserable' over COVID-19 pandemic, economy: Business Insider

NEW YORK -- The percentage of Americans feeling "very happy" plunged from 32 percent in 2018 to 19 percent in 2021, as Americans feeling "not too happy" soared from 13 to 24 percent in the same time frame, a new survey has found.

"Americans are miserable. They're more miserable than they have been in half a century," the Business Insider reported on Sunday, citing the General Social Survey, an ongoing study at the University of Chicago and one of the most influential social projects in the United States.

The misery rose from the COVID-19 pandemic which is heading into its third year -- while vaccines have enabled people to resume a sense of normality, new variants have kept them on their toes throughout 2021 to the point of exhaustion, according to the report.

"The misery is also entrenched in our perception of the economy. Americans' economic hopes plummeted to decade lows in January in the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index," noted the report.

Although wages in the United States have risen this year at the fastest rate since 1983, inflation is winning in the fight of "inflation versus wages," said the report, adding that "it's especially painful for lower-income Americans who can no longer bank on pandemic relief."