Fox News Poll: Views on the year ending are merriest since 2020

As 2025 winds down, voters’ outlook on the year ending has improved, not only compared to 2024, but also year-over-year since 2020. Almost half say this was a good year for them personally, even as fewer, around one-third, say it was good for the country, according to the latest Fox News survey released Friday. Though concerns persist, such as the future of the country and affording holiday gifts, the upward shift reflects a gradual rebound in optimism since the pandemic-era lows.

Nearly half of voters, 45%, say 2025 was a good year for them. That’s up from 40% last year, and the highest since 2019 when it was 47%. At the same time, 54% say this was a bad year for their family, up from 50% last year.

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A record-low – 23% said 2020 was a good year for their family. In fact, the 2020 pandemic was the first time in almost a decade that the question veered to the negative: from 2012 to 2019, voters felt more positive than negative.

While still largely net negative, views on how the country fared in 2025 are also rosier than in recent years. Thirty-five percent say it was a good year for the U.S., up from 28% last year. Two-thirds think it was a bad year for the country — a number that has held steady since 2022 and went as high as 78% in 2020.   

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Republicans (65% their family, 63%of the country) are more likely than Democrats (28%, 9%) and independents (39%, 28%) to be upbeat about 2025 and say it was a good year personally and nationally.

Positivity among Republicans (+31 points for their family, +44 points for the country) and independents (+6, +7) is up since 2024, while ratings have fallen for Democrats (-22, -33).

"Obviously, most of the shifts from 2024 to 2025 are due to how partisans have reacted to the change from a Democratic to a Republican administration," says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helps conduct Fox News surveys with Democratic partner Chris Anderson. "It’s not so much that prices have changed or wages have moved, it’s that Republicans feel better with their guy in the White House and Democrats feel worse."

Evaluations of 2025 are more favorable among men than women, college-educated voters than those without a degree, and households earning $50,000 or more than those with lower incomes.

Voters are divided, however, on the U.S.’s future: 48% are hopeful while 52% are not, yielding a net negative 4 points — a reversal from a +10 positive rating last year (55% hopeful, 45% not hopeful).

Still, these numbers are better than in 2021 (when the question was first asked), when 43% felt hopeful about what was next and 54% did not (-11 net negative rating).

Just as views of the past differ by political party, expectations about the future do, too. Three-quarters of Republicans feel hopeful about what’s ahead, while three-quarters of Democrats say they’re not. Independents are also negative, with about 6 in 10 lacking hopefulness.

And although Republicans felt good about 2025, optimism for the future is down 11 points compared to 86% last year, while Democratic and independent pessimism remains as high — or higher — than it was in 2024.

This is the reverse of four years ago, when about 6 in 10 Democrats were hopeful, while roughly 7 in 10 Republicans and 6 in 10 independents were not.

With the holiday season in full swing, so is shoppers’ anxiety as more than half are worried about how they will pay for gifts this year (52%) while slightly less than half are not (48%).

Concern is highest among moms (68%), voters under 30 (68%), Hispanic voters (66%), women without a college degree (64%), and households earning under $50,000 (62%).

Those financial pressures may help explain why most voters (81%) say it’s at least sometimes okay to re-gift something they were given: 62% feel it is sometimes okay, while 19% say it’s always acceptable. Some 19% think it’s never okay.

Acceptance of re-gifting has grown since 2013, when 73% said it was at least sometimes okay and one-quarter said it was never acceptable.

White women, voters under age 45, those with a graduate degree, parents, and Republicans are among those most likely to say re-gifting is acceptable today.

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Conducted December 12-15, 2025, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (116) and cellphones (630) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (255). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.