Pets. Considered to be a man’s best friend and member of the family, but have pets always had a lovable reputation in America?
This week, we are jumping back in our Time Machine to see how people feel about their pets!
Let’s go all the way back to 1948, when the National Opinion Research Center asked Americans if they happened to currently have a pet.
Back then, 39% said they had a dog, 22% said they had a cat, and 9% said they have never had animals.
So, around two-thirds of Americans had a cat or dog in 1948.
Let’s jump to 1985.
NBC News asked Americans if they had a pet at home and 41% said they had a dog, 24% said they had a cat, but 43% said had none. Overall, pet ownership went up, but the plurality of Americans still did not own a pet.
A few years later, in 1991, Lifetime Television/Troika Productions and Princeton asked only if people had a pet at home — not what kind — and 60% said yes, 40% no.
Jumping decades didn’t make much difference: In 2005, Pew asked Americans if they had a pet and this time 57% said they did and 43% said they didn’t.
So…what about now?!?
In 2023, Ipsos/Pew Research Center asked this age-old question and this time 62% said they had one or more pets, while 38% said they had none.
Over time, more Americans appear to have welcomed pets into their homes, and, as one more stat shows, into their familes.
That Ipsos poll also if asked if pet owners considered their pet a member of the family, just as much as a human family member. A majority 51% said they did and another 46% said they thought of pets as family members but not as much as the humans in the home.
Just 3% said their pets were not family members.
Time has only made our pets closer to us and part of the family. This is polling data even your pet is going to love!
This post was written by Marist Poll Media Team member Rebekah Hendricks.