WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans continue to rate U.S. moral values negatively, on balance, and overwhelmingly agree that they are getting worse. These readings, from Gallup's May 1-12 Values poll, are the latest in the 18-year trend that shows similarly bleak findings.
A 47% plurality of Americans currently rate U.S. moral values as "poor," 36% as "only fair" and 17% as "excellent" or "good." Since 2002, no more than 23% of Americans have held a positive view of moral values; the highest negative rating was 49% last year.
For the third consecutive year, 77% of Americans think moral values in the U.S. are getting worse, slightly below Gallup's all-time 82% high in 2007. Just 19% currently believe that morals are getting better.
Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and Republicans and Republican-leaning independents hold fairly similar views of the trajectory of moral values, as was the case from 2002-2008 and again since 2017 when Donald Trump became president. Between 2009 and 2016 however, when Barack Obama was in the White House, Democrats were significantly less pessimistic about their outlook for moral values in the U.S. although majorities still said they were getting worse.
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