On average, Americans don’t expect their quality of life, including their spending levels, to return to pre-recession levels until mid-2013, according to the findings of a survey released by AlixPartners LLP, the global business-advisory firm.

The poll also finds that seven in 10 Americans today feel the same or worse about their personal economic situations than a year ago, during the depths of the recession, and that 83% expect to spend the same or less on non-essential purchases over the next 12 months, illustrating an ongoing frugality that’s hampering prospects for a consumer-driven economic recovery. The survey was conducted recently as a reprise of similar AlixPartners surveys in 2009 - one in February and another in November.

According to the poll, Americans are also decidedly less optimistic about a quick recovery in the economy at large than they were in 2009, another factor in restrained spending. The majority of respondents, or 63%, now say that an economic recovery won’t take place until 2012 or later, versus the 46% who felt that way in November and 40% who picked that year or later in early 2009. The proportion of Americans who now believe that a recovery will take place this year or next: just 5% and 12%, respectively.

“When we polled Americans last November, they expected their personal spending levels and lifestyles to be back to pre-recession levels by, on average, November of 2012, but now they’re saying not till August of 2013,” said Fred Crawford, CEO of AlixPartners. “Obviously, despite some modest movement forward in the economy, individual Americans remain greatly concerned about their personal economic situations. In the past, AlixPartners has talked about how this could translate into a ‘new normal’ environment for businesses of all types that rely upon the American consumer: lower plateaus of consumer spending for years to come, maybe for the foreseeable future. Today, it looks like this new normal is already happening.”

Americans continue to say that their two top concerns are their own personal debt levels and possible job loss. Some 20% of respondents in latest survey cite the elimination of personal debt as their top concern, versus 13% who cite potential job loss. The seven-percentage-point gap between the two top concerns has widened since November, when 18% cited personal debt and 14% said job loss.

“The gap between the top two consumer concerns was just two percentage points in February 2009, possibly illustrating some stabilization on the employment front over the past 15 months,” said Crawford. “However, given the length of time that most expect it will take before they see a personal economic recovery and the urgency on the personal debt front, consumer spending likely will continue to languish for some time.”