LOS ANGELES -- Forty percent of Egyptians say they are "finding it very difficult" to get by, the highest percentage to say so since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. Fewer than one in three Egyptians say they are getting by on their present income, down from 43% in late September and early October 2010.

Egyptians are also having as much trouble affording food today as they were before the revolution. Nearly half of Egyptians (45%) surveyed in July and August say there have been times in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy the food they or their families needed.

The lack of improvement in Egyptians' situations since Mubarak's ouster does not bode well for an interim government that is facing mounting criticism. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) is under fire for its performance after clashes between military forces and protesters on Oct. 9 left 25 dead. A number of high-profile political players are calling for the SCAF to resign from the leading the country's daily affairs on all nonmilitary issues.

Despite these challenges, nearly all Egyptians (95%) say people can work hard and get ahead in their country. They are more likely to say this now than they were several years leading up to the revolution.

Implications

The progress of a revolution can't be audited like the performance of a company. However, one way to assess the evolution of change in Egypt is to ask people whether they are more or less able to acquire the rudimentary necessities of life. Although not conclusive in scoring the gains made by Mubarak's expulsion, these types of assessments are a good indicator of Egyptians' daily lives. Gallup surveys find many Egyptians struggling to afford food and more of them finding it difficult to get by. As such, many Egyptians may still be waiting to feel the positive effect of Mubarak's ouster on their daily lives. Gallup's data also show that Egyptians do believe they have a role to play in building a positive future for their nation, and hope that their hard work will pay off.

For complete data sets or custom research from the more than 150 countries Gallup continually surveys, please contact SocialandEconomicAnalysis@gallup.com or call 202.715.3030.

Survey Methods

Results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,121 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted July 25-Aug. 1, 2011, in Egypt. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3.3 percentage points. Earlier surveys are based on face-to-face interviews with approximately 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, in Egypt. For results based on the total sample of national adults in these surveys, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error ranges from ±3.1 to ±3.5 percentage points.

The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

For more complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details.