Taxes still most crucial issue for respondents, but job worries hit new high
October 28, 2003
Unemployment and jobs have become greater priorities for Wisconsin residents, according to survey results released today by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.
Poll
Answers of 1,000 Wisconsin residents asked the question:
What do you think is the single most important problem facing Wisconsin that the government should be doing something about?
22% Taxes
16% Unemployment/jobs/wages
13% State budget/government issues
9% Health care issues
8% Don't know
7% Schools/education
6% Criminal justice system/problems with laws
6% Welfare/poverty/social
5% Loss of business/economy
5% Other
1% Environmental issues
1% Gasoline/oil/home heating oil
1% Nothing
Source: Harris Interactive Inc.
The survey of 1,000 Wisconsin residents Oct. 6-12 shows unemployment as the No. 2 problem in the state behind taxes, which has led the list in each of 15 similar surveys dating back to 1988. Among other findings, the survey also suggests support for government-financed health care and weakened confidence in the stock market.
"There's an unease about what's going on," said James Miller, president of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, a business-backed, non-profit group based in Thiensville.
When asked by Harris Interactive to name the most important problem facing the state, 22% of the respondents said that they thought it was taxes, followed by unemployment and jobs (16%), the state budget and other government issues (13%) and health issues (9%). The margin of error in the survey is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Interest in the labor market was the highest in the survey's history, up 10 points from the 6% posted in September 2002. It hit lows of 2% in June 2000 and July 1999. The previous high-interest mark was 13% in January 1992, following the previous recession.
Concern for jobs outweighed the incidence of unemployment among survey respondents, with 5% reporting that they had no job and were looking for work and 5% saying they had no job and were not looking. The government defines as unemployed those who have no job but are seeking employment.
In a separate question, respondents chose "controlling health care and prescription costs" first among six issues needing the most attention from Wisconsin government officials; 33% of those surveyed picked health care over "improving the state's economy" (23%) and "reforming the tax system" (17%). In addition, 62% of those surveyed said they support a "Canadian-style" government-financed health insurance system. That was up from favorable ratings of 57% in September 2002 and 52% in November 1993.
Cheryl Maranto, a labor economist and associate dean of the College of Business Administration at Marquette University, said she was somewhat surprised by the degree of respondents' economic concerns.
She attributed the findings to impatience for economic recovery as well as a sense that government can't come to the rescue because of federal and state budget deficits.
The survey found a slight rebound in the percentage of respondents agreeing that the stock market generally is a safe investment - 28%, up from 21% in September 2002. But that's down from 41% in a June 1998 survey.
Also, the latest survey shows 67% of Wisconsin residents have equity investments, down from 71% in 1998.
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