Work


Work	See also: Confidence/Trust in Institutions

Polls listed chronologically. Data are from nationwide surveys of Americans 18 & older.

The Harris Poll. July 8-13, 2008. N=approx. 500 adults nationwide. MoE ą 4.
.
"I am going to read off a number of different occupations. For each, would you tell me if you feel it is an occupation of very great prestige, considerable prestige, some prestige, or hardly any prestige at all? . . ."
.
		Very Great Prestige
.
		2008	2007	2006	2003	2000	1998
		%	%	%	%	%	%
.
	Firefighter *	57	61	63	55	n/a	n/a
	Scientist	56	54	54	57	56	55
	Doctor	53	52	58	52	61	61
	Nurse	52	50	55	47	n/a	n/a
	Teacher	52	54	52	49	53	53
	Military officer	46	52	51	46	42	34
	Police officer **	46	46	43	42	38	41
	Farmer	41	41	36	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Priest/Minister/Clergy ***	40	42	40	38	45	46
	Engineer	40	30	34	28	32	34
	Member of Congress	28	26	28	30	33	25
	Architect	28	23	27	24	26	26
	Lawyer	24	22	21	17	21	23
	Athlete	20	16	23	17	21	20
	Journalist	18	13	16	15	16	15
	Union leader	18	13	12	15	16	16
	Business executive ****	17	14	11	18	15	18
	Actor	16	9	12	13	n/a	n/a
	Entertainer	15	12	18	17	21	19
	Accountant	15	11	17	15	14	17
	Banker	15	10	17	14	15	18
	Stockbroker	10	12	11	8	n/a	n/a
	Real estate broker/agent	6	5	6	6	n/a	n/a
						.
	* "Fireman" prior to 2006. "Policeman" prior to 2003. * "Priest/Minister/Clergyman" prior to 2007. **** "Businessman" prior to 2003.

Gallup Poll. Aug. 13-16, 2007. N=1,019 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3 (for all adults).
						.
"Do you approve or disapprove of labor unions?"
						.
		Approve	Disapprove	Unsure
		%	%	%
	8/13-16/07	60	32	8
	8/7-10/06	59	29	12
	8/8-11/05	58	33	9
	8/04	59	34	7
	8/03	65	29	6
	8/02	58	33	9
	8/01	60	32	8
	8/99	65	28	7
	3/99	66	29	5
	8/97	60	31	9
	7/91	60	30	10
	7/86	59	30	11
	1/78	59	31	10
	9/67	66	23	11
	10/58	64	21	15
	7/47	64	25	11
	1936	72	20	8
						.
"Is anyone living in your household a member of a labor union?"
						.
		Yes	No
		%	%
	8/13-16/07	15	84
	8/7-10/06	17	81
	8/8-11/05	19	81
	8/04	18	82
	8/03	18	82
						.
"Thinking about the future, do you think labor unions in this country will become stronger than they are today, the same as today, or weaker than they are today?" Options rotated
						.
		Stronger	Same	Weaker	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	8/13-16/07	19	31	45	5
	8/8-11/05	19	25	53	3
	8/04	21	34	41	4
	8/02	23	35	36	6
	8/01	24	30	40	6
	8/99	25	28	44	3
						.
"Would you, personally, like to see labor unions in the United States have more influence than they have today, the same amount as today, or less influence than they have today?" Options rotated
						.
		More	Same	Less	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	8/13-16/07	35	33	28	4
	8/8-11/05	38	29	30	3
	8/04	29	36	32	3
	8/02	27	36	31	6
	8/01	30	35	31	4
	8/99	30	36	32	2
						.
"If you were free to do either, would you prefer to have a job outside the home, or would you prefer to stay at home and take care of the house and family?"
						.
		Outside Home	Stay Home	Both (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	ALL adults	58	37	3	2
	Men	68	29	1	2
	Women	50	45	4	1

CBS News Poll. Jan. 1-3, 2007. N=993 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
						.
"With the Democrats in control of Congress, do you think the minimum wage will go up, go down, or stay about the same?"
						.
		Go Up	Go Down	Stay Same	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	1/1-3/07	68	0	30	2

Associated Press-AOL News Poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs. Dec. 19-21, 2006. N=1,004 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.1.
					.
"Do you favor or oppose an increase in the minimum wage?"
					.
		Favor	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	12/19-21/06	80	18	2

CNN Poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation. Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2006. N=1,004 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
					.
"Do you favor or oppose Congress passing legislation that would raise the minimum wage?"
					.
		Favor	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	8/30 - 9/2/06	86	13	1

Gallup Poll. Aug. 7-10, 2006. N=1,007 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3 (for all adults).
						.
"Overall, do you think labor unions mostly help or mostly hurt [see below]?"
						.
		Help	Hurt	Unsure
		%	%	%
	"Workers who are members of unions"
	8/7-10/06	71	21	8
	8/28-30/05	69	25	6
	8/4-6/03	76	20	4
						.
	"The U.S. economy in general"
	8/7-10/06	53	36	11
	8/28-30/05	54	39	7
	8/4-6/03	54	38	8
						.
	"Workers who are not members of unions"
	8/7-10/06	33	51	16
	8/28-30/05	38	52	10
	8/4-6/03	36	54	10
						.
	"The companies where workers are unionized"
	8/7-10/06	50	39	11
	8/28-30/05	53	40	7
	8/4-6/03	58	35	7
						.
"If you were taking a new job and had your choice of a boss would you prefer to work for a man or a woman?"
						.
		Man	Woman	No Difference (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	ALL adults	37	19	43	1
	Men	34	10	56	-
	Women	40	26	32	2

CBS News/New York Times Poll. July 21-25, 2006. N=1,127 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3 (for all adults).
				.
"As you may know, the federal minimum wage is currently $5.15 an hour. Do you favor or oppose raising the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour over the next two years, or not?"
				.
		Favor	Oppose
		%	%
	ALL adults	85	13
	Democrats	94	5
	Independents	84	12
	Republicans	75	22

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Bill McInturff (R). July 21-24, 2006. N=1,010 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.1.
					.
"Do you favor or oppose raising the minimum wage from five dollars and fifteen cents an hour to seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour?"
					.
		Favor	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	7/21-24/06	76	20	4

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Bill McInturff (R). June 9-12, 2006. N=1,002 adults nationwide. Results below are among registered voters.
						.
"I'm going to read you some positions that someone running for Congress could take. For each one, please tell me whether you would be more likely to vote for a candidate for Congress who takes this position, less likely to vote for this candidate, or would it not make a difference to you either way? Favors increasing the minimum wage from five dollars and fifteen cents per hour to six dollars and sixty-five cents per hour."
						.
		More Likely	Less Likely	No Difference	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
	6/9-12/06	54	25	20	1

Gallup Poll. Nov. 7-10, 2005. N=1,011 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
					.
"Do you favor or oppose Congress passing legislation that would raise the minimum wage?"
					.
		Favor	Oppose	Unsure
		%	%	%
	11/7-10/05	83	14	3
					.
"Just your best guess: What is the current minimum wage rate per hour worked?"
					.
	Mean response	$6.09
	Median response	$6.00

The Harris Poll. Oct. 14-19, 2003. N=1,017 adults nationwide. MoE ą 3.
.
"First, we would like to know approximately how many hours a week you spend at your job or occupation, and that includes keeping house or going to school, as well as working for pay or profit. How many hours would you estimate you spend at work, housekeeping, or studies, including any travel time to and from the job or school? "And about how many hours each week do you estimate you have available to relax, watch TV, take part in sports or hobbies, go swimming or skiing, go to the movies, theater, concerts, or other forms of entertainment, get together with friends, and so forth?"
.
		Work (Median Hours)	Leisure (Median Hours)
	2003	49	19
	2002	47	20
	2001	50	20
	2000	50	20
	1999	50	20
	1998	50	19
	1997	51	20
	1995	51	19
	1994	51	20
	1993	50	19
	1989	49	19
	1987	47	17
	1984	47	18
	1980	47	19
	1975	43	24
	1973	41	26

FOX News/Opinion Dynamics Poll. Oct. 22-23, 2002. N=900 likely voters nationwide. MoE ą 3.
.
"