--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is no group of Americans more…" description: "\"“There is no group of Americans more pessimistic than working-class whites. Well over half of blacks, Latinos, and college-educated whites expect that ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/j-d-vance-3503_quote_there-is-no-group-of-americans-more-pess_253347.jpg" --- # There is no group of Americans more pessimistic than… ![“There is no group of Americans more pessimistic than working-class whites. Well over half of blacks, Latinos, and college-educated whites expect that their children will fare better economically than they have. Among working-class whites, only 44 percent share that expectation. Even more…” quote by J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/j-d-vance-3503_quote_there-is-no-group-of-americans-more-pess_253347.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/j-d-vance-3503_quote_there-is-no-group-of-americans-more-pess_253347.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/943/j-d-vance-3503_quote_there-is-no-group-of-americans-more-pess_253347.jpg) > ““There is no group of Americans more pessimistic than working-class whites. Well over half of blacks, Latinos, and college-educated whites expect that their children will fare better economically than they have. Among working-class whites, only 44 percent share that expectation. Even more surprising, 42 percent of working-class whites—by far the highest number in the survey—report that their lives are less economically successful than those of their parents’.”” [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote highlights a stark pessimism among working‑class whites about economic mobility, contrasting with more optimistic outlooks of other groups. **In simple terms:** Working‑class whites doubt future earnings more than others. Key Takeaway Recognize and address economic anxiety in policy and community support. Themes economic mobility class perception generational wealth racial/ethnic differences Mood concerned reflective serious Type analytical policy‑oriented When to use this quote - public policy debates - community outreach programs - career counseling - educational planning Key Concepts sociology economic inequality psychology Questions to Reflect On - What factors drive this pessimism? - How can interventions boost confidence in economic prospects? A Different Perspective Optimism may be influenced by local conditions, not just class identity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Americans Pessimistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans-pessimistic-2514340/) [Class Whites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class-whites-915277/) [Educated Whites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated-whites-1237489/) [Whites Expect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whites-expect-2514341/) [Working class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/) ## Related quotes > [“Even more surprising, 42 percent of working-class whites - by far the highest number in the survey - report that their lives are less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/even-more-surprising-42-percent-of-working-class-whites-by-far-the/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [Basically, less educated or high school-educated whites are going to Donald Trump. It doesn't matter what the guy does. And college-educated going to Hillary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brooks/basically-less-educated-or-high-school-educated-whites-are-going-to/) [David Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brooks/) > [The Democratic vote consists of minorities and educated whites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-remnick/the-democratic-vote-consists-of-minorities-and-educated-whites/) [David Remnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-remnick/) > [Most middle-class whites have no idea what it feels like to be subjected to police who are routinely suspicious, rude, belligerent, and brutal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-spock/most-middle-class-whites-have-no-idea-what-it-feels-like-to-be/) [Benjamin Spock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-spock/) > [“However you want to define these two groups and their approach to giving—rich and poor; educated and uneducated; upper-class and working-class—their members increasingly occupy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/however-you-want-to-define-these-two-groups-and-their-approach-to/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“Not all of the white working class struggles. I knew even as a child that there were two separate sets of mores and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/not-all-of-the-white-working-class-struggles-i-knew-even-as-a-child/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“was my first indication that the policies of Mamaw’s “party of the working man”—the Democrats—weren’t all they were cracked up to be. Political scientists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/was-my-first-indication-that-the-policies-of-mamaw-s-party-of-the/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [Working-class and poor urban Americans are not benefiting economically from our current food system. It relies too much on transportation, chemical fertilization, big use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/majora-carter/working-class-and-poor-urban-americans-are-not-benefiting/) [Majora Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/majora-carter/) > [As someone from the working class I was always interested in Russia and China and everything that related to the working class, even though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/as-someone-from-the-working-class-i-was-always-interested-in-russia/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [“The focus on one sector of Trump voters—the white working class—is puzzling, given the breadth of his white coalition. Indeed, there is a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/the-focus-on-one-sector-of-trump-voters-the-white-working-class-is/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [I was brought up by the English side of my family, who are very repressed and working class. Absolutely lovely, but very English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-for-lashes/i-was-brought-up-by-the-english-side-of-my-family-who-are-very/) [Bat for Lashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-for-lashes/) > [When the only people in mainstream discourse who care about the working class are Wall Street investors, it really is time to ask where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/when-the-only-people-in-mainstream-discourse-who-care-about-the/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) > [I was born and raised in a suburb of Paris by a working-class family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-martinez/i-was-born-and-raised-in-a-suburb-of-paris-by-a-working-class-family/) [Olivier Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-martinez/) > [The rich people are apparently leaving America. They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) ## More by J.D. Vance > [“Wed don't need to live like the elites of California, New York, or Washington, D.C. We don't need to work a hundred hours a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/wed-don-t-need-to-live-like-the-elites-of-california-new-york-or/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“Within two generations, the transplanted hillbillies had largely caught up to the native population in terms of income and poverty level.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/within-two-generations-the-transplanted-hillbillies-had-largely/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“Powerful people sometimes do things to help people like me without really understanding people like me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/powerful-people-sometimes-do-things-to-help-people-like-me-without/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“Research does reveal a genetic disposition to substance abuse, but those who believe their addiction is a disease show less of an inclination to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/research-does-reveal-a-genetic-disposition-to-substance-abuse-but/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“But I often wonder: Where would I be without them? I think”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/but-i-often-wonder-where-would-i-be-without-them-i-think/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“the first impulse is escape, but people who lurch toward the exit rarely choose the right door.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/the-first-impulse-is-escape-but-people-who-lurch-toward-the-exit/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“was my first indication that the policies of Mamaw’s “party of the working man”—the Democrats—weren’t all they were cracked up to be. Political scientists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/was-my-first-indication-that-the-policies-of-mamaw-s-party-of-the/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“A young man was sitting at home when a terrible rainstorm began. Within hours, the man’s house began to flood, and someone came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/a-young-man-was-sitting-at-home-when-a-terrible-rainstorm-began/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“As a culture, we had no heroes. Certainly not any politician--Barack Obama was then the most admired man in America (and likely still is),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/as-a-culture-we-had-no-heroes-certainly-not-any-politician-barack/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“To this day, being able to “take advantage” of someone is the measure in my mind of having a parent. For me and Lindsay,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/to-this-day-being-able-to-take-advantage-of-someone-is-the-measure-in/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“As one book, Appalachian Odyssey, notes about the influx of hill people to Detroit: “It was not simply that the Appalachian migrants, as rural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/as-one-book-appalachian-odyssey-notes-about-the-influx-of-hill-people/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“As a 2011 Brookings Institution study found, “compared to 2000, residents of extreme-poverty neighborhoods in 2005–09 were more likely to be white, native-born, high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/as-a-2011-brookings-institution-study-found-compared-to-2000/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“There was, and still is, a sense that those who make it are of two varieties. The first are lucky: They come from wealthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/there-was-and-still-is-a-sense-that-those-who-make-it-are-of-two/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“We spend to pretend that we’re upper-class. And when the dust clears—when bankruptcy hits or a family member bails us out of our stupidity—there’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/we-spend-to-pretend-that-we-re-upper-class-and-when-the-dust-clears/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [“Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Chaos begets chaos. Instability begets instability.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/out-of-the-frying-pan-and-into-the-fire-chaos-begets-chaos/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) [Explore all 127 J.D. Vance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) ## More Working class quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [The rich people are apparently leaving America. They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [I was born and raised in a suburb of Paris by a working-class family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-martinez/i-was-born-and-raised-in-a-suburb-of-paris-by-a-working-class-family/) [Olivier Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-martinez/) > [When the only people in mainstream discourse who care about the working class are Wall Street investors, it really is time to ask where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/when-the-only-people-in-mainstream-discourse-who-care-about-the/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) > [I was brought up by the English side of my family, who are very repressed and working class. Absolutely lovely, but very English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-for-lashes/i-was-brought-up-by-the-english-side-of-my-family-who-are-very/) [Bat for Lashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-for-lashes/) > [“The focus on one sector of Trump voters—the white working class—is puzzling, given the breadth of his white coalition. Indeed, there is a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/the-focus-on-one-sector-of-trump-voters-the-white-working-class-is/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [As someone from the working class I was always interested in Russia and China and everything that related to the working class, even though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/as-someone-from-the-working-class-i-was-always-interested-in-russia/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [Working-class and poor urban Americans are not benefiting economically from our current food system. It relies too much on transportation, chemical fertilization, big use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/majora-carter/working-class-and-poor-urban-americans-are-not-benefiting/) [Majora Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/majora-carter/) > [I wasn't going to be an actor. I was going to be a lawyer. I came from a family just above working class, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-butler/i-wasn-t-going-to-be-an-actor-i-was-going-to-be-a-lawyer-i-came-from/) [Gerard Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-butler/) > [Take care of your working-class citizens, and your working-class citizens will take care of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ojeda/take-care-of-your-working-class-citizens-and-your-working-class/) [Richard Ojeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ojeda/) > [Then years back, when I moved to California, I happened to see a book about fashions of 19th-century Victorian England, only four pages of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/then-years-back-when-i-moved-to-california-i-happened-to-see-a-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The meaning of sex is illustrated by two eponymous heroes of British history, King Edward VII (who flourished in the years before the First…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jones/the-meaning-of-sex-is-illustrated-by-two-eponymous-heroes-of-british/) [Steve Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jones/) > [I'm a working-class former apprentice electrician; at the age of 14, if you'd told me I would one day be standing on a stage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gordon-sinclair/i-m-a-working-class-former-apprentice-electrician-at-the-age-of-14-if/) [John Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gordon-sinclair/) > [I come from a working-class family. They're the people I know and the people I love, I guess. I do not write about them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/per-petterson/i-come-from-a-working-class-family-they-re-the-people-i-know-and-the/) [Per Petterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/per-petterson/) > [I once said, 'We will bury you,' and I got into trouble with it. Of course we will not bury you with a shovel.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/i-once-said-we-will-bury-you-and-i-got-into-trouble-with-it-of-course/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) [Browse all 953 Working class quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is no group of Americans more pessimistic than working-class whites. Well over half of blacks, Latinos, and college-educated whites expect that their children will fare better economically than they have. 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