More American workers are struggling than thriving for first time: poll
American workers are feeling more pressure in their lives, with a greater share reporting that they feel they're struggling than thriving in a new poll by Gallup.
Gallup on Tuesday released fresh data for the firm's Life Evaluation Index, which measured how people rate their current and expected future lives since 2008. It asks respondents to evaluate their current and future lives on a 10-point scale, which is broken down as "thriving," "struggling" or "suffering."
The firm's survey of U.S. workers conducted in the fourth quarter of 2025 found that the share of those thriving declined from 50% the same quarter a year ago to 46%, while those struggling rose from 46% to 49% in that period.
"For the first time since Gallup began measuring the life evaluation of the American workforce, more U.S. workers are struggling in their lives (49%) than thriving (46%)," the polling and analytics firm noted. Additionally, 5% of respondents were classified as "suffering."
The shift comes as a contrast with the index's findings in 2022 and 2023, when the share of American workers who said they're "thriving" was in the low-to-mid-50s in what was an indication of resilience after the economic turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The last decade saw relatively high numbers of respondents classified as thriving, with Gallup's metric remaining steady between 57% and 60% from 2009 to 2019.
Respondents classified as thriving briefly dipped to 55% in 2020 before it rebounded in 2021, but the figure has generally been on a steady decline since then.
The share of respondents who were thriving hit a recent peak in the third quarter of 2022, when it was 55% compared to 41% of respondents who were struggling. That 14-percentage point spread in favor of thriving was the largest differential since 2022.
"The slide in workers' thriving rate has been gradual but consistent. No quarter since early 2024 has shown sustained improvement – meaning back-to-back quarters when the thriving rate increased," Gallup wrote.
Workers who are struggling instead of thriving also pose challenges to employers, who may face more absenteeism or turnover from struggling workers.
"The significance to organizations and the economy is real given that worker wellbeing has a tangible impact on organizations' bottom line. Gallup research finds that workers who are not thriving are more likely to miss work due to illness and to be seeking or watching for a new job," the firm added.
"Thriving employees miss 53% fewer days of work due to health problems and are 32% less likely to be actively seeking a new job. As thriving falls, organizational performance risks follow," Gallup explained.
US ECONOMIC GROWTH REVISED LOWER IN FOURTH QUARTER
While the report indicated that all major segments of the U.S. workforce experienced a worsening outlook on their lives since 2022, Gallup noted that federal workers have seen a more severe and rapid decline in their outlooks.
Federal workers were more likely than the average U.S. worker to be thriving in 2022, when they had an average of 60%. That was six points above the national average and four points higher than state and local government workers.
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By late 2025, federal workers' thriving rate fell 12 points to an average of 48%, far outpacing the decline for average U.S. workers, whose rate was down six points to 48%, as well as state and local government workers, whose combined thriving rate was down six points to 50%.