Americans Satisfied at Work

As summer winds down and Labor Day approaches, The American will look this week at what Americans think about their jobs and vacation time. The Gallup Organization has asked an identical question about job satisfaction each year since 1989, and the results are remarkably consistent. Around nine in ten employed Americans are completely or somewhat satisfied with their jobs. When asked specifically, workers tell the polling organization that they like most aspects of their work. Satisfaction with coworkers rates most highly, and though satisfaction with compensation is somewhat lower, most workers—75 percent in 2006—say they are satisfied with their pay. Two surveys taken 20 years apart asked the identical question about job satisfaction and found that around 65 percent would take the same job again "without hesitation."
Source: The Gallup Organization, latest that of August 2006.

Vacation Time

Continuing a Labor Day series on Americans' attitudes toward work and leisure, today The American turns from job satisfaction to vacation time. Gallup’s trend data indicate that in comparison to 1989, Americans today are neither significantly more nor less satisfied with the amount of vacation time they receive. In 1989, 47 percent of workers said they were completely satisfied with the amount of vacation time they received, and 34 percent were somewhat satisfied. In 2006, 54 percent said they were completely satisfied, and 27 percent somewhat satisfied.

 Source: The Gallup Organization, latest that of August 2006.

Better Bosses?
Wrapping up a Labor Day series on Americans' attitudes toward work and leisure, today The American examines how workers view their bosses. In 2006, Gallup found that more than four-fifths of employed people were completely or somewhat satisfied with their boss or supervisor.  Of these, 55 percent said that they were “completely satisfied;” 29 percent, “somewhat satisfied.” Gallup received nearly identical responses when the organization first asked the question in 1989. When asked by Gallup in 1997 whether they would fire their boss if given an opportunity, 24 percent said that they would. When the identical question was asked by another survey organization in 2002, a virtually identical 21 percent said they would do so.

 Source: The Gallup Organization, latest that of August 2006.

An Elusive Ideal?

Being single, it seems, has never been better. The percentage of American adults who are married is decreasing. And when asked in July whether it was "possible for a woman to have a complete and happy life if she remains single,” 79 percent of participants answered affirmatively. When asked the same question about men, 69 percent of participants said it was possible. Still, when the same poll asked unmarried participants about their preference for marriage, 56 percent expressed a desire to tie the knot.

 Source: Pew Research Center, 2007.

Disaster Response

Source: CBS News Poll, 2007.