MOOD OF COUNTRY IMPROVES
Americans' views of how things are going improved from last month, according to our poll with the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University.
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30% of Americans say the country is on the right track (compared with 28% a month ago), and 32% say the economy is on the right track (compared with 29% last month).
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48% say their personal financial situation is becoming worse (compared with 52% a month ago), while 24% say it is improving (compared with 23% a month ago).
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Regarding the presidential election, 79% approve of President Biden's decision to not run again, and 55% approve of his endorsement of Vice President Harris.
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Compared with June, more Democrats say they would vote for the Democratic candidate (+5 points), and fewer Independents are unsure of whom they would vote for (-10 points).
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On the other side, 89% of Republicans and 79% of Independents support GOP platform initiatives like protecting Social Security and Medicare, ending inflation, and stopping violence and crime.
HELP WANTED - PARENTS
Parenting should pay $60,000 a year, according to our Harris Poll survey with Skylight.
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Parents of minors say managing a household consumes 63% of their brain space on a given day and totals as much as 30 hours per week.
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This time and intensity are the equivalent of $60,000 per year if parenting were a paying job.
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81% of parents say a family scheduling issue has affected them at work.
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58% spend more time managing parenting logistics than experiencing the joys of parenting.
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More mothers (78%) are the default parent than fathers (58%) - and they also are the first to be contacted by schools (80% for mothers versus 60% for fathers) and children themselves (86% for mothers versus 62% for fathers).
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Even in dual-income households, mothers are the primary caregivers (64% for mothers versus 40% for fathers).
SOCIAL MEDIA 'DE-INFLUENCER' TREND GROWS
The trend of social media users revolting against influencers is affecting consumer buying habits, according to our Harris Poll study with Credit Karma.
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38% of Americans have purchased products advertised on social media in the past year.
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69% say they have been "de-influenced," meaning they have chosen not to purchase items on social media.
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The top reason is lack of trust in influencers promoting products (32%), followed by too many counterfeit products (28%), social media overconsumption (26%) and being overwhelmed by how many products are advertised on social media (19%).
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More Gen Z consumers (88%) have been de-influenced, with 38% attributing it to unhealthy levels of overconsumption.
BUSINESS LEADERS WANT BETTER THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
While 90% of executives are hungry for thought leadership for their business, only 20% find efforts today to be effective, according to the Harris Poll's new thought-leadership report.
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90% of business leaders consume thought leadership themselves, and 93% view it as "an indicator of a category or industry leader" (93%).
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92% want thought leadership to attract new customers, talent or investment.
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Yet 83% feel most thought leadership today does not have a measurable impact.
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For better thought-leadership: 79% believe it should include more third-party validation; 94% believe custom research makes it stronger; and 86% say it needs to be more creative with new ideas that show how the company is "seeing around corners."
ICYMI
In case you missed it, check out the thought-leadership and happenings around Stagwell making news: