FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 30, 2005
A new AEI Public Opinion Study, The State of the American Worker, 2005, examines how workers feel about their jobs, their commutes, and their leisure time. The AEI collection draws on polls conducted by major pollsters over the past 50 years and provides a surprising look at the workaday world.
Among the highlights:
- Most workers are very satisfied with their jobs. There has been little change in job satisfaction since pollsters started measuring it regularly 25 years ago (Gallup, Harris, National Opinion Research Center, AP/Ipsos).
- Most workers are confident that they will be able to keep their jobs. Still, around 60 percent say it is a bad time to find a quality job in America (Gallup).
- The vast majority of workers are satisfied with most aspects of their jobs including their job security, their opportunities to move up, their coworkers, the flexibility of their hours, and their vacation time. (Gallup, NBC/WSJ, AP/Ipsos).
- More than 60 percent of those who work outside the home have commutes that are less than 30 minutes, and another 27 percent commute less than an hour. Nine percent of those who commute say it usually takes 60 minutes or more. Nineteen percent say they like their commutes a great deal, and another 41 percent like them somewhat. Only 12 percent dislike them a great deal (ABC/Washington Post).
- Around 20 percent say they would like to fire their boss if they could. Around a quarter said they would like their boss's job (Roper, Maritz).
- Most Americans say that they would continue working if they won a $10 million lottery (Gallup).
A final word: Polls are too blunt to be used to make policy. Polls can, however, provide a sense of how and what Americans think about an issue. That is what this public opinion study is intended to do.
"The State of the American Worker, 2005" is one of a series of AEI studies on public opinion by Karlyn Bowman. The studies include trend data from most major pollsters in the United States and are updated regularly as new polls become available.
Karlyn Bowman, who specializes in public opinion polls, is available for interviews at (202) 862-5910 or kbowman@aei.org (asst.: 202-862-5917).
Bowman's AEI website bio: http://www.aei.org/bowman
