Sure, nearly everybody took a nasty hit during the Great Recession.

So it wasn't a surprise that a poll conducted for the AJC of metro Atlanta found a lot of disquiet about the state of the economy and the  middle class.

But what about the economy as a lifetime proposition? Have things gotten better or worse during the course of your life?

Perhaps not surprisingly, the youngest age group -- those 18 to 24 -- were pretty positive.

But the response among the middle-aged was overwhelming and surprising -- perhaps even to middle-aged people. In Part 5 of our special series "The Riddle of the Middle," see what folks in their 50s had to say about the quality of life during their decades on earth.

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Scott Jackson (right), business service consultant for WorkSource Fulton, helps job seekers with their applications in a mobile career center at a job fair hosted by Goodwill Career Center in Atlanta. (Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC)

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC