Economic fears have grown within the American people into a full blow grievance, this reported by the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer. Six in ten respondents said they had a moderate to high sense of offense. They believe that business and government are harming them and serve limited interests, with the wealthy benefiting while normal people suffer. The fear of being discriminated against has risen ten points to a record high of 63% across all genders, ages and incomes. At 14% the largest jump was among white Americans.
Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman says, “Over the last decade, society has devolved from fears to polarization to grievance. Incumbents in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, South Korea, and Canada were ousted amid voter anger over job loss to globalization and inflation. We now see a zero-sum mindset that legitimizes extreme measures like violence and disinformation as tools for change. The Barometer finds a 30-point trust gap in institutions between those with high and low grievance (Trust index of 36 vs 66). Closing this gap fosters hope for a brighter future.”
There are four key factors in the rise of grievances. Lack of hope for the next generation being the first, the belief that things in their country will be better for the next generation than it is today is at a low 36%. The lowest numbers being in Western democracies, France at 9%, the United Kingdom at 17, and the United States at 30. The mass-class trust divide is next, those who responded and qualify as being low-income (48%) trust institutions less that those with high incomes(61%), by a factor of 13 points. A global lack of faith in leaders comes in third, an average of 69% worry officials from the government, business leaders and journalists purposefully mislead them, a jump of 11 points from 2021. Finally, confusion over what is credible information. 63% say it’s hard to differentiate if news is by a reputable source or if it’s attempted deceptions.
Four in ten, 53% of respondents aged 18-34, disturbingly approve of one or more forms of activism that are hostile to bring change. This includes, damaging public or private property, intentionally spreading false information, committing or threatening violence, and attacking people online. The ‘zero-sum mindset’ prevails, with some saying gains for those whose politics differ from their own, come at their expense, this is more common among those who listed high grievance (53%) than low grievance (23%).
Business has been a default solutions the last few years for societal issues, it was seen as more competent than the government, it is currently scoring 49 points higher. Its also seen as more ethical, 29 points higher. However, there are new guardrails with business involvement in addressing societal problems, is it justified if its contributed to the problem, will it make a change on the challenge, will its actions improve the performance of the business. The other three major institutions will all have their roles to play as well. NGOS, seen as unifiers, have the highest trust among those with high grievance. The government must show it is competent and deliver results that will benefit the citizens and the media must prioritize quality information over clickbait to ensure people are making informed choices.
Says Edelman, “Business is facing backlash from those opposing its role as a catalyst for societal change. Moving back from a grievance-based society will require a cross-institution effort to address issues like informations integrity, affordability, sustainability and the future of AI.”
Other key findings in the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer include:
- Lack of Trust in Top Economies: Five of the largest 10 global economies are among the least trusting nations on the Trust Index: Japan (the least trusting at 37), Germany (41), UK (43), U.S. (47) and France (48).
- Developing Nations More Trusting: China (77), Indonesia (76), India (75) and the UAE (72) once again sit atop the Trust Index as the most trusting nations surveyed.
- Trust Remains Local: Despite a 3-point drop to 75 percent trust among employees, ‘my employer’ remains the most trusted institution.
- Job Insecurity Accelerates: Fears of job insecurity due to the impacts of globalization all increased in the last year, including causes such as international trade conflicts (with 62 percent of employees worried, up 5 points), foreign competitors (59 percent, up 6 points), offshoring (54 percent, up 6 points); a looming recession (63 percent, up 3 points); automation (58 percent, up 5 points); and out of date skills (58 percent, up 2 points).
- The Wealthy Seen as The Problem: A majority believe they avoid paying their fair share of taxes (67 percent), and 65 percent blame their selfishness for many of our problems.