Gallup has been asking Americans how they are feeling about different aspects of life and policy issues for the last two decades. And this year, across those 29 different measurements, just 38% of Americans say they’re satisfied.

In 2020, before the pandemic began, an average of 48% of Americans said they were satisfied. There was a big drop in 2021, when 41% indicated they were happy with what was going on these 29 different metrics.

What this data indicates is that, nearly two years into the pandemic in the United States, there has not been any real recovery in how Americans believe things are going.

When you break it down by aspects of life and policy issues, the same story emerges. Just 41% are satisfied on the seven aspects of life issues measured consistently over the last two decades. These aspects include quality of life, the system of government and how it works, and the influence of organized religion. That 41% is statistically insignificantly different from the 39% who were satisfied last year, which was the lowest on record.