Media inquiries: Sara Huneke
202.862.4870 (sara.huneke@aei.org)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 26, 2009

Just prior to Labor Day on September 7, 2009, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) senior fellow and public opinion expert Karlyn Bowman releases a new compilation of polling data from major pollsters on attitudes toward work in America. This study, entitled "The State of the American Worker 2009" is one in a series of more than a dozen AEI public opinion studies on topics ranging from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to homosexuality, gay marriage, and energy and the environment.

Among the highlights of the study:

• Americans still display a high degree of satisfaction with their jobs. In August 2009, 50 percent of employed people told Gallup pollsters that they were completely satisfied with their jobs, and another 37 percent were somewhat satisfied.
• The level of job satisfaction stands out even more because other polls in this collection show that economic anxiety has risen considerably. In 2009, for example, 31 percent told Gallup they were worried about being laid off, up from 15 percent in 2008. Twenty-seven percent were worried that their hours would be cut back, almost double the 2008 number (14 percent). Forty-six percent reported being worried that their benefits would be cut, up from 27 percent last year.
• People are even more anxious about the possibility that someone in their family or someone else they know personally will lose a job in the next six months. Sixty percent told RBC/Ipsos interviewers that this was likely in a late July-early August 2009 poll.
• One thing the vast majority of Americans are not worried about is that their job will be shipped overseas. Only ten percent replied that they were worried this year. Since Gallup began asking this question in 2003, no more than 12 percent have ever been worried that their job will be shipped overseas.
• For those with jobs, satisfaction with chances of promotion, job stress, the amount of money earned, and even health benefits have remained remarkably stable:
• 66 percent of those employed in 2009 were satisfied with their chances for promotion; 68 percent gave that response last year.
• 71 percent in 2009, compared to 73 percent in 2008, said they were satisfied with the amount of money they earned.
• 67 percent in 2009, and 68 percent in 2008, were satisfied with the health insurance benefits their employer offers.
• Stress levels were identical in both years, with 69 percent reporting satisfaction with the amount of on-the-job stress.
• More than nine in ten in both years were satisfied with their relations with co-workers.
  

To read the full study please go to: http://www.aei.org/paper/14886

Karlyn Bowman is available for interviews and can be reached at 202.862.5910 or kbowman@aei.org (assistant: 202.862.5917 or Andrew.Rugg@aei.org)

For additional media inquiries, please contact Sara Huneke at 202.862.4870 or sara.huneke@aei.org

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