A total of 64 percent of Americans say they are still feeling the impact of the recession, and 40 percent say a household member had lost a job during the last five years, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll of 1,000 adults taken last week.

In addition, 71 percent those polled believe the United States is on the wrong track, up from 63 percent in June, and 60 percent believe we're on the decline.

And what's to blame? The political leadership in Washington, according to 70 percent of Americans. A whopping 79 percent expressed some dissatisfaction with our political system.

Editor’s Note: New Warning - Stocks on Verge of Major Collapse

Half of the respondents said they feel the economy is improving, while 49 percent think it's still in recession, down from 58 percent a year ago.

A record 76 percent of those surveyed lack confidence that their children's generation will be better off than they are.

"People are continuing to tell us ways [the Great Recession] is still impacting them today," GOP pollster Bill McInturff, who helped conduct the survey, tells NBC. "Those stories are pretty grim."

One of those people is Laura Colvin, 29, a fast-food worker in Jonesboro, Ark. "I was doing better five years ago than I'm doing now," she tells The Wall Street Journal. Her hourly wage has risen less than a $1 over that time while her costs for goods and services have climbed.

Editor’s Note: New Warning - Stocks on Verge of Major Collapse

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