The Week in Charts

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

The Week in Charts

Welcome to The Week in Charts, where we break down Gallup's latest insights on our constantly evolving world. Here are the five insights you shouldn't miss this week:

1. When Do You Plan to Retire?

Line Chart: In 2022, U.S. nonretirees expected to retire at age 66, and retirees actually retired at age 61.

For over two decades, we've been asking Americans when they plan to call it a career and head into retirement. We've also been tracking when they actually retire.

Both figures have been edging up, and fewer U.S. adults in their 50s or 60s are retired today than were two decades ago. On average, Americans are planning to retire later in life as the years pass on.
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2. The Grain Crunch Is On

Bar Chart: Top 10 key importers of wheat from Ukraine and the percentages of their populations that have lacked money for food in the past 12 months.

As the situation with Ukraine's grain exports threatens the food security of more countries, we look at how residents of the countries that are key importers of Ukrainian wheat assessed their ability to afford the food their family needed — before the war.

Many of those least able to afford food have the most at stake in the new Russia-Ukraine deal that lets Ukrainian grain exports resume via the Black Sea.
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3. A Somber Anniversary for Beirut With Justice Out of Reach

Bar Chart: Percentage of Lebanese adults who believe that Judge Bitar should be allowed to continue his investigation into the Beirut port explosion, by religious affiliation.

Two years ago this week, the Port of Beirut exploded, shattering glass and taking countless lives across the capital. The investigation into the explosion has predictably suffered from the same political paralysis that has plagued the country for a generation.

When asked whether that investigation should continue, Shia Lebanese express a different perspective than Christian and Sunni Lebanese citizens.
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4. To Go or Not to Go to Taiwan

Bar Chart: Americans' views of the top 11 critical threats to U.S. vital interests in 2021, with the conflict between China and Taiwan ranking last.

There's a lot of talk around Washington about the wisdom and efficacy of having U.S. congressional leaders pay a visit to Taiwan in defiance of Beijing's wishes.

Before this trip prompted Beijing to issue grave warnings over the visit, slightly less than a third of Americans viewed the conflict between China and Taiwan as a critical threat to the vital interests of the U.S., ranking it far less of a concern than other conflicts.

5. A New Kind of Inequality Is Rising

Line Chart: The average life evaluations for the lowest 20% and highest 20% ratings, with the highest 20% rating 8.9 and the lowest 20% rating 1.2 on a scale from zero to 10.

As we count down the final weeks until Gallup's next book, Blind Spot, drops, we'll be sharing some sneak peeks in these notes.

While income inequality is a critical metric for society, an equally important one is how the rich and poor alike evaluate their overall lives. Our global research highlights how wellbeing inequality is as pernicious as income inequality and has only grown in the past decade.
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And that's The Week in Charts!

Mohamed Younis
Editor-in-Chief
Gallup

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