Most (85%) Believe that America is a
Nation of Dreamers

New York, New York - A new poll conducted on behalf of Carpenter Co. (www.SleepBetter.org) in the midst of the current economic recession has found that most (85%) Americans still believe that, as a whole, Americans are a people that dream big about accomplishing big ideas or great things.

On an individual level, most (77%) Americans say that they still have big dreams for themselves, despite the current economic uncertainties. However, two in ten (21%) do not. Moreover, four in ten (42%) say that they have become `more determined' (25% much more/16% slightly more) to achieve their dreams, goals, bid ideas or life changes in the last six to twelve months. Conversely, two in ten (20%) have become `less determined' (8% much less/12% slightly less).

Eight in ten (83%) would describe themselves as someone who looks ahead to the future and dreams about realizing their future goals and ideas. In most cases, those dreams relate to family (45%), contributing to a better world (18%), their career (13%), health (10%) or education (9%). Just 2% have goals related to a major purchase (2%) or something else (2%).

But four in ten (38%) have had to put their dreams on hold in the last six months, with the leading cause unsurprisingly being the economy (41%) or job losses (11%). Other causes for the delay include health issues (13%), family (9%), a lack of time (2%), finances (1%), a death in the family (1%) or some other reason (17%).

Thinking about who America's greatest dreamer is, among those who had an opinion, one third (33%) indicate that President Barack Obama is America's greatest dreamer. Next on the list is and themselves (8%), and Martin Luther King Jr. (7%), followed by other celebrities (6%), all Americans (5%), young people (5%), and Benjamin Franklin (2%).

Eight in ten (78%) believe that they are able to dream as big as their parents were able to dream, while two in ten (19%) do not. But looking ahead to the future, a majority (52%) believes that it will be `harder' (28% much/24% somewhat) for today's children to reach their dreams than it was for them. Just three in ten (27%) believe that it will be `easier' (12% much/15% somewhat) for today's children to attain their goals and dreams, and two in ten (19%) think it will be about the same as it was for them.

In fact, most (92%) say that sleeping better is `important' (65% very/27% somewhat) for their ability to achieve their dreams, and a similar proportion believes that having a good night's sleep is `related' (75% highly/19% somewhat) to one's ability to function well the next day. To this effect, nine in ten (88%) say that their pillow is `important' (59% very/29% somewhat) to getting a good night's sleep.

For the survey, a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Americans was interviewed by telephone via Ipsos' U.S. Telephone Express omnibus from April 16-19. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate within 177 3.1 percentage points,19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of adults in the U.S. been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/gender composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

For more information on this news release, please contact: Sean Simpson Research Manager Ipsos Public Affairs 416.572.4474 [email protected]

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