Americans Are More Miserable, Survey Finds

Americans Are More Miserable, Survey Finds
In this season of what's supposed to be comfort and joy, a new
University of Chicago poll suggests that many Americans are more
miserable now than they were 15 years ago.
More Americans are reporting incidents of illness, inability to
afford medical care, and unstable romantic relationships than when
the school's National Opinion Research Center conducted its first
"Negative Life Events" survey nearly 15 years ago, the school said
in a statement.

Seventeen percent of this year's respondents said they had been a
patient in a health-care facility, versus 14 percent in 1991. Eleven
percent said they couldn't afford needed medical care, compared with
7 percent in 1991, and 18 percent said they lacked health insurance,
compared with 12 percent in the earlier poll.
Nearly 7 percent in the most recent survey said they were separated
from a partner, compared with 5 percent in 1991. More of the recent
respondents also cited unemployment and pressure to pay bills than
in the earlier poll.