CBS Poll: Environment A Worry
Faced with life in the 21st Century, Americans are most concerned about the environment and the threat of war.
In a poll conducted for Monday's CBS News broadcast People of the Century: The CBS News / Time 100 , Americans list the environment as their top domestic concern and war as their biggest global concern. Concerns about poverty and overpopulation come in a distant third and fourth.
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| FOR THE US | FOR THE WORLD |
| ENVIRONMENT | 12% | 12% |
| WAR | 4% | 16% |
| POVERTY | 4% | 8% |
| CRIME | 7% | 3% |
| OVERPOPULATION | 3% | 7% |
| MORAL VALUES | 5% | 4% |
| ECONOMY | 5% | 3% |
| DRUGS | 4% | 3% |
| EDUCATION | 4% | 0% |
| JOBS / UNEMPLOYMENT | 4% | 0% |
Fifty-three percent of Americans believe the environment will become worse and only 15 percent think it will get better.
War and terrorism appear to be closely linked in the public's mind, and both are feared in the coming century. A third of Americans think there will be more and six of 10 believe acts of terrorism will increase.
Other 21st Century concerns include poverty (87 percent don't expect it to be eliminated); crime, overpopulation, drug abuse, unemployment and a decline in moral values.
Overall, 36 percent believe that life will be better, while another 36 percent believe exactly the opposite; the rest think things will pretty much be the same.
What are the factors that affect people's optimism?
- Age: The younger their age, the more pessimistic their vision. Half of Generation X (18-29 year-olds) believes life for Americans in the 21st Century will actually be worse than it is today. Baby boomers (aged 45-64) are the most optimistic, with 41 percent of them looking forward to a better century.
- Race : Blacks tend to be much more pessimistic than whites.
- Education and Income: As education and income levels increase, so do hopes for the future.
- Where They Live: People living on both coasts and in large cities are much more optimistic than people living in more rural areas and in the Great Plains and the South.
This poll was conducted among a nation-wide random sample of 782 adults, interviewed by telephone March 1-2, 1998. The error due to sampling could be plus or minus four percentage points for results based on the entire sample.©1998 CBS Worldwide Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed