More than one-third of Americans near retirement age expect they'll never retire, a poll finds.

Thirty five percent of Americans don't expect to retire, up from 29 percent two years ago, according to findings from a “2011 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey Report” from the Society of Actuaries, the New York Times reports.

Four in 10 of the survey's so-called "pre-retirees" say they won't retire say because they are financially unable to do so, as they either need the income or the employer benefits.

Editor's Note: The ‘Unthinkable’ Could Happen — Wall Street Journal. Prepare for Meltdown

“There is a core group of people earning a paycheck who feel, for whatever reason, they aren’t going to be able to support themselves in their retirement years,” said Carol Bogosian, an actuary and retirement expert, the New York Times reported.

The study found that 51 percent of those who have already retired did so before age 60, though just 12 percent of today's pre-retirees think they will retire that early.

Half of those pre-retirees who still expect to retire say they will wait at least until age 65, the Times added.

Other surveys paint equally bleak outlooks for the U.S. and its economy.

A Rasmussen Reports survey finds that only 16 percent of adults believe that today’s children will be better off than their parents, up slightly from July’s all-time low of 14 percent and back to the levels found in May and June.

The polling firm said since the beginning of 2009, the figure had hovered in the low to mid-20s.

"Sixty-four percent now say today’s children will not be better off. That compares to 47 percent who felt that way in January 2009," Rasmussen Report found.

"Nineteen percent more are not sure."

Editor's Note: The ‘Unthinkable’ Could Happen — Wall Street Journal. Prepare for Meltdown