Americans split on whether life was better in the 1950s
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Americans are divided on whether U.S. culture and way of life was better in the 1950s, with white Christians more likely to say it was, a new survey finds.
Why it matters: Despite the segregation and inequality of yesteryear, nearly half of 5,027 Americans surveyed are nostalgic for the more homogeneous world of the 1950s, highlighting the political division today along racial and political lines.
- The question about the 1950s was part of a wide-ranging survey from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Brookings Institution about political divisions.
The big picture: The split over whether the 1950s were better or worse also comes amid the nation's current dramatic demographic and religious transformation.
- The U.S. population was around 89.5% white and 10% Black in 1950, according to the U.S. Census.
- In 2023, the U.S. population is 58.4% white, 19.5% Latino, 13.7% Black and 6.4% Asian American, the census says.
By the numbers: 49% of Americans say the nation has changed for the worse since the 1950s compared to 48% who say it's changed for the better, the survey found.
- 68% of Republicans, 48% of independents and 31% of Democrats surveyed say American culture and way of life have mostly changed for the worse since the 1950s.
Zoom in: White Christian groups and Hispanic Protestants are the most likely to say American culture and way of life has changed for the worse since the 1950s, the survey found.
- 68% of white evangelical Protestants, 58% of Hispanic Protestants, 56% of white Catholics, and 56% of Latter-day Saints all say life is worse today compared to the 1950s.
- Hispanic Catholics (47%) and Black Protestants (40%) are less likely to say things have changed for the worse.
Context: The 1950s were a time of a post-war economic boom where suburbs exploded amid a baby boom as the nation embarked on building a massive highway system.
- Rock-n-roll placed jazz as the most popular form of music, while television became the most essential medium in American homes.
- Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Audrey Hepburn were the era's biggest stars as President Dwight D. Eisenhower coasted easily to two presidential terms with the U.S. as a world power.
Yes, but: Black Americans and Mexican Americans were kept out of high-paying jobs and couldn't move to new suburbs because of racial segregation.
- The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 brought nationwide attention to persistent racial violence against Black Americans and Rosa Parks' arrest that same year in Montgomery, Alabama, helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement.
- Jewish and left-wing activists were persecuted under fear of communism provoked by McCarthyism, or the Second Red Scare.
Between the lines: The nostalgia for the 1950s follows nearly a decade of Donald Trump promising to "Make America Great Again," while often pointing to the era as the nation's golden age.
- "The word 'again' is the most powerful word in the 'Make America Great' slogan. It evokes this sense of loss and nostalgia for this mythical golden age," Robert P. Jones, president and founder of PRRI, tells Axios.
- Jones says that mythical golden age was mainly for white Christians who did not have to share the wealth, culture and political power with people of color.
The intrigue: Most of those in the PRRI survey were born after the 1950s, Jones says.
- That means they are longing for a time they've never experienced.
Methodology: The American Values Survey was conducted online between Aug. 16-Sept. 4. The poll is based on a representative sample of 5,027 adults (age 18 and older) living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia who are part of Ipsos' Knowledge Panel®.
- The margin of sampling error is +/- 1.82 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample.
