Mark Hemingway
The Weekly Standard
5/21/2014
A new poll suggests that finding employment, particularly for the long-term unemployed, continues to be a struggle for Americans. The poll, conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals, asked questions of 1,500 unemployed adult Americans last month.
“This survey shows that millions of Americans are at risk of falling into the trap of prolonged unemployment, and it should give policymakers a greater sense of urgency to focus on the singular goal of creating jobs,” said Bob Funk, CEO of Express and a former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, in a release. “We can take heart that in these difficult times the American spirit of confident hopefulness endures, but we can’t accept this status quo—not for our country, not for our unemployed neighbors.”…
…The survey also shows that the unemployed are predominantly male—57 percent vs. 43 percent female—and also skew younger. More than half of all unemployed are under 40 and one third are under the age of 30. Finally, 45 percent of respondents say the economy is “most responsible” for them being out of work, 36 percent cite “themselves” as being responsible, and 18 percent blame the government for their lack of employment.
Read the entire article at The Weekly Standard.
Related: Survey: Millennials Love Big Government?
…On measures from “creating jobs” to “making college affordable” to “protecting the rights of women,” millennials overwhelmingly said they favored greater government involvement. And when asked whether they would rather have government “off their backs” or “on their side,” 59 percent of millennials voted for friendly paternalism…
