BUSINESS & POLITICS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD

Global Opinion Report No. 350

Week: October 12 – 18, 2014

Presentation: October 22, 2014

M. Zubair Khan

INTRODUCTORY NOTE 02

SUMMARY OF POLLS 02

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

· Tunisian Confidence in Democracy Wanes 06

· Despite security concerns, Mauritians feel safe in their homes 18

· Mauritians support proportional representation, split on other reforms 22

SOUTHEAST ASIA

· Net satisfaction ratings at +52 for Vice-President Binay, 25

EAST EUROPE

· IRI Ukraine Pre-Election Poll Shows Strong Opposition To Russian Aggression, Support For Kyiv Government 28

· Russia: Only automotive industry in decline 29

· Prices Are Increasing! Who Is To Blame? 33

· World Government: Myth Or Reality? 34

· Russia: A Country Of Opportunities 36

WEST EUROPE

· Personal allowances rise the most popular of conference season tax pledges 38

· Energy Saving Trust Electrical Appliance Research 40

· Voting UKIP no longer seen as a wasted vote, as the party reaches its highest ever vote share 41

· Slight cooling of house price expectations, buying sentiment falls 43

· Almost half of UK adults shy away from magazines 45

NORTH AMERICA

· More Women Than Men in U.S. Workforce Are Irked by Pay 46

· Americans Say Equal Pay Top Issue for Working Women 49

· Americans Still Prefer a Male Boss to a Female Boss 53

· Women's Well-Being Suffers More When Marriage Ends 55

· U.S. Voters Give GOP Edge vs. Dems on Handling Top Issues 59

· U.S. Economic Confidence Index Rises to -10 62

· Americans: My Member OK, Most in Congress Are Not 65

· In U.S., No Preference for Divided vs. One-Party Government 68

AUSTRALASIA

· National fail to get post-election bounce but leaderless Labour Party crash to lowest ever support 72

MULTI-COUNTRY SURVEYS

· Worldwide, More Men Than Women Have Full-Time Work 74

· Publics Across the World See Religious and Ethnic Hatred as Global Threat 79

CYBER WORLD

· Offline and falling behind: Barriers to Internet adoption (Multi-country survey) 85

· Smart Watches Face Challenges As Payment System (Multi-country survey) 89

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

This week report consists of twenty seven surveys. four of these are multi-country surveys while the rest of twenty two are national surveys from different countries across the world.

350-28 Commentary: Publics Across the World See Religious and Ethnic Hatred as Global Threat

October 16, 2014

Publics Across the World See Religious and Ethnic Hatred as Global Threat

Europeans and Americans Focus on Inequality as Greatest Danger

$Description: C:\Users\sara\Desktop\MAHAM SALEEM\Gallopedia\October 350\Images 350\ldj2bo-b78732859z.120101216074147000gedsaisd.2.jpg$ With growing conflicts engulfing the Middle East, people in the region name religious and ethnic hatred most frequently as the greatest threat to the world. Moreover, publics across the globe see the threat of religious and ethnic violence as a growing threat to the world’s future. But in Europe, concerns about inequality trump all other dangers and the gap between the rich and the poor is increasingly considered the world’s top problem by people living in advanced economies, including the United States.

Elsewhere, Asians and Latin Americans are somewhat divided about the world’s greatest danger, but pollution and environmental problems as well as the spread of nuclear weapons are high on their list of threats. African countries see AIDS and other infectious diseases as the most pressing issue in the world today.1

These are among the findings of a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted in 44 countries among 48,643 respondents from March 17 to June 5, 2014.

Explore Global Opinions of the Greatest Dangers to the World

Greatest Danger to the World

Across the nations surveyed, opinions on which of the five dangers is the top threat to the world vary greatly by region and country, and in many places there is no clear consensus.

Around a quarter of Americans say the growing gap between the rich and the poor (27%) is the greatest threat to the world today, with 24% saying this about religious and ethnic hatred and 23% expressing concern about the spread of nuclear weapons. Fewer say pollution and other environmental problems (15%) or AIDS and other infectious diseases (7%) are the world’s top problems.

Europeans generally agree that inequality is the top threat to the world. A median of 32% across seven EU nations say the growing gap between the rich and the poor is the top threat and inequality is rated the number one danger in five of these countries.

Inequality is cited as the top problem by 54% in Spain and 43% in Greece, countries where the effects of the Eurocrisis have been especially severe. Somewhat fewer in Germany (34%), Italy (32%), Poland (32%) and France (32%) name the growing rich-poor gap. In the United Kingdom, ethnic and religious hatred (39%) is considered the greatest threat, followed by inequality (25%).

In Russia and Ukraine, both surveyed after the Russian annexation of Crimea but before months of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces, nuclear proliferation is the number one danger. More than three-in-ten say this in Ukraine (36%), while 29% hold that view in Russia.

Five of the seven Middle Eastern countries surveyed identify religious and ethnic hatred as the top threat to the world, with a median of 34% across these seven countries saying this, despite the fact that the survey was administered before the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) took over large portions of Iraq and Syria and the recent military conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

In Lebanon, 58% identify religious and ethnic hatred as the top threat, the highest level of concern in any surveyed country. Religious hatred is the top concern among Lebanese Christians (56%), Shia Muslims (62%) and Sunni Muslims (58%) alike. But concern about this threat is also prevalent in the Palestinian territories, Tunisia, Egypt and Israel.

Opinions about top dangers are more mixed in Asia. Three-in-ten or more Thais (36%), Filipinos (34%), Chinese (33%) and Vietnamese (32%) see environmental issues as the main danger to the world. Religious and ethnic divisions rank highest in Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and India. In Malaysia, Muslims (35%) are more concerned than Buddhists (22%) about religious and ethnic hatred.

In Japan, which remains to this day the only population to experience a nuclear attack, 49% say the spread of nuclear weapons is the world’s greatest threat, the highest rating for this issue across the 44 countries surveyed. Three-in-ten in Pakistan, which borders nuclear rival India, say the spread of those weapons is of paramount danger, garnering the highest spot. In South Korea, the gap between the rich and the poor is the largest issue (32%), mirroring findings from many of the other advanced economies surveyed.

Latin Americans express mixed views about the top threat facing the world today, but many people in the region name nuclear weapons and environmental issues. Around three-in-ten in Chile (30%), Venezuela (29%) and Brazil (28%) identify the spread of nukes as the world’s top danger. About a quarter in El Salvador (27%) and Mexico (26%) also say this, though in Mexico an equal number name pollution. Colombians, Peruvians and Nicaraguans assess environmental problems as the greatest danger. In Argentina, more say inequality (32%).

Africans are generally united in the view that AIDS and other infectious diseases are the top threat to the globe. Africa has the highest rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence in the worldand the recent Ebola outbreak has spread in the continent’s west. Ugandans are the most worried about AIDS (44%), followed by Tanzanians (41%), South Africans (35%), Kenyans (29%) and Senegalese (29%). In Nigeria, where Boko Haram terrorists in the restive north of the country are creating havoc, 38% say religious and ethnic hatred is the biggest problem for the world.

Increasing Concerns about Religious and Ethnic Hatred

Taking the median percentages across the 28 countries surveyed in both 2007 and 2014, there has been a shift toward concerns about religious and ethnic hatred as the world’s top problem, especially in the Middle East. Meanwhile, in Europe, more publics now see inequality as the world’s top problem compared to seven years ago, before the Great Recession and Eurocrisis.

Overall, in the 28 countries surveyed in 2007 and 2014, religious and ethnic hatred, along with inequality, are seen as the most pressing issues for the world, with the spread of nuclear weapons not far behind. Fewer people within these countries say pollution and AIDS are the biggest threat.

However, there have been substantial changes in the top choice within some countries over the last decade. For example, in the U.S., when the question was first asked in 2002 just months after the 9/11 attacks and discussion of the spread of WMDs in the lead up to the Iraq War, a third of Americans said nuclear proliferation was the greatest threat to the world. In 2007, after years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, religious and ethnic hatred became the top concern (28%). And now, six years after the Great Recession, with abundant debates about the growing gap between the rich and the poor, inequality is considered the greatest danger.

Europeans have seen a similar progression. Four of the European countries surveyed in 2007 named religious and ethnic tensions as the greatest threat, but in 2014 all but one say inequality is the top issue (France is split between the two). In Spain and Italy, worries about inequality have doubled since 2007.

Meanwhile, Middle Easterners have become more worried about religious hatred. In 2007, a regional median of 24% across six countries named religious prejudice as the greatest danger. By 2014, a median of 32% across those same Middle Eastern countries said this. And in Lebanon, the percentage choosing ethnic hatred jumped 19 points since 2007, while concern has more than doubled in Egypt.

Age and Ideological Differences

Generally, there is little variation by age in views about the top global danger.

But in Japan, 18-29 year olds are less concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons than those 50 and older, possibly due to the fact that people under 30 were born at least four decades after nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Meanwhile, young people in Kenya and South Africa are more concerned about AIDS & disease compared with their elders.

In the UK, people on the ideological right of the political spectrum voice greater worries about religious and ethnic hatred, while those on the left are more concerned about inequality. Similarly, in the U.S., Republicans are much more likely to name religious and ethnic hatred as the greatest threat to the world (35%) than are Democrats (15%) and independents (23%). But Democrats are more concerned about inequality (35%) compared with Republicans (21%). Democrats and independents also more concerned about pollution and other environmental problems compared with Republicans.

1. The survey was administered before the Islamic State (“ISIS” or “ISIL”) took over large swathes of Iraq and Syria and posted prisoner executions online and before the Ebola outbreak in West Africa became a high-profile international story.

Source: http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/10/16/middle-easterners-see-religious-and-ethnic-hatred-as-top-global-threat/

SUMMARY OF POLLS

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

Tunisian Confidence in Democracy Wanes

With parliamentary elections approaching later this month, Tunisian support for democracy has declined steeply since the early days of the Arab Spring. Just 48% of Tunisians now say democracy is preferable to other kinds of government, down from 63% in a 2012 poll conducted only months after a popular uprising removed longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from office. (Pew Research Center)

October 15, 2014

Despite security concerns, Mauritians feel safe in their homes

While crime and insecurity remain a leading concern, most Mauritians feel safe in their neighbourhoods and homes, according to a new Afrobarometer survey. Very few Mauritians report having been victims of theft or physical violence, and the proportion of survey respondents who identified crime and insecurity as the nation’s most important problem has declined, the 2014 survey findings show. (Afrobarometer)

October 2014

Mauritians support proportional representation, split on other reforms

Mauritians favour a proportional representation system for National Assembly elections but remain divided regarding two other proposed reforms – introducing an elected president with greater executive powers and eliminating National Assembly representation based on ethnic and religious affiliation, a new Afrobarometer survey reveals. (Afrobarometer)

October 2014

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Net satisfaction ratings at +52 for Vice-President Binay,

The Third Quarter 2014 Social Weather Survey, conducted from September 26-29, 2014, found 70% satisfied and 17% dissatisfied with the performance of Vice-President Jejomar Binay, 58% satisfied and 23% dissatisfied with Senate President Franklin Drilon, 40% satisfied and 27% dissatisfied with Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, and 37% satisfied and 27% dissatisfied with Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno. (SWS)

October 13, 2014

EAST EUROPE

IRI Ukraine Pre-Election Poll Shows Strong Opposition To Russian Aggression, Support For Kyiv Government

According to a new Ukraine poll released today by IRI, Ukrainians overwhelmingly oppose Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine. The poll also shows strong support for the Kyiv government as the country prepares for parliamentary elections on October 26. (IRI)

October 14, 2014

Russia: Only automotive industry in decline

Other large markets experience slight consumption growth Despite the economic tidal wave in summer and quite reasonable concerns regarding the economic perspectives in the coming fall as for Russia in general and household income in particular, most of respondents remain positive about major purchases. Large consumer markets in Russia still have the potential for the moderately balanced growth, except for the automotive industry that went through crisis in spring. (Romir)

September 23, 2014

Prices Are Increasing! Who Is To Blame?

Every fifth Russian who noticed an increase in prices for goods and services blame sanctions for that. (VCIOM)

September 23, 2014

World Government: Myth Or Reality?

Almost half of Russians believe that there is a global government striving to control the planet. According to respondents, it comprises oligarchs and world leaders but basically those who come from the U.S.A. and England. (VCIOM)

September 17, 2014

Russia: A Country Of Opportunities

According to Russians, Russia is a good place to fulfill yourself; least favorable countries are Eastern countries. (VCIOM)

September 16, 2014

WEST EUROPE

Personal allowances rise the most popular of conference season tax pledges

The latest polling from Ipsos MORI shows that tax pledges from each party were welcomed by the British public, but with the rise in personal allowances the stand-out favourite. More than eight in ten (85%) support increasing the threshold before people pay income tax to £12,500 per year, while just nine percent oppose it. (Ipsos Mori)

October 16, 2014

Energy Saving Trust Electrical Appliance Research

Ipsos MORI conducted a survey for the Energy Savings Trust in September 2014 on attitudes to electrical appliances in the home. Among the key findings half of households who have received an unexpectedly high energy bill check if unused appliances are switched off. (Ipsos Mori)

October 16, 2014

Voting UKIP no longer seen as a wasted vote, as the party reaches its highest ever vote share

October’s Ipsos MORI Political Monitor shows that, in the aftermath of Douglas Carswell’s by-election win for the party, more of the British public now disagree that voting UKIP in a general election is a wasted vote than agree. Just under half (48%) disagree that a general election vote for UKIP is a wasted vote, compared with 41% who agree. This is a turnaround from earlier this year – last month, prior to the Clacton by-election, 50% thought a UKIP vote was a vote wasted and 41% disagreed; in May, some 57% thought voting UKIP was a wasted vote and just 33% disagreed. (Ipsos Mori)

October 15, 2014

Slight cooling of house price expectations, buying sentiment falls

In Q3 2014, the Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker, conducted by Ipsos MORI, finds 68% of the public expecting the average UK house price to rise in the next 12 months, down from 71% last quarter. This compares to 6% who expect the average price to fall (in line with the 5% who said this last quarter). (Ipsos Mori)

October 15, 2014

Almost half of UK adults shy away from magazines

The most recent “Magazine Consumption report” shows that just over 4 in 10 adults currently do not read nor buy magazines (44%). From this group, more than half (55%) say they’ve never been regular readers of magazines, while 39% were once readers, but stopped. Given that women are more attuned than men to reading magazines, they are more likely to be lapsed consumers (46% compared with 33%); conversely, men are more likely to have never read them (59% compared with 50%). (YouGov)

October 15, 2014

NORTH AMERICA

More Women Than Men in U.S. Workforce Are Irked by Pay

When asked to rate 13 different aspects of their job and work environment, women employed full time in the U.S. differed most from their male counterparts in reaction to their pay. Twenty-eight percent of full-time working women are completely satisfied with their pay, compared with 34% of men. (Gallup USA)

October 2014

Americans Say Equal Pay Top Issue for Working Women

Nearly four in 10 Americans say equal pay is the top issue facing working women in the United States today, a sentiment shared by roughly the same proportions of men, women, and working women. About twice as many Americans mention equal pay as cite the second-ranked issue -- equal opportunity for advancement. No other issue is cited by more than 10% of Americans. (Gallup USA)

October 2014

Americans Still Prefer a Male Boss to a Female Boss

Americans are still more likely to say they would prefer a male boss (33%) to a female boss (20%) in a new job, although 46% say it doesn't make a difference to them. While women are more likely than men to say they would prefer a female boss, they are still more likely to say they would prefer a male boss overall. (Gallup USA)

October 2014

Women's Well-Being Suffers More When Marriage Ends

Married Americans tend to have higher well-being than nonmarried Americans, particularly those who are divorced or separated, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. Women typically have higher well-being than men across all marital statuses, including a notable 2.2-point gap in the overall Well-Being 5 score among those who are married. The significant exception is that there is essentially no gender difference in well-being among those who are separated, the group with the lowest well-being. (Gallup USA)

October 2014

U.S. Voters Give GOP Edge vs. Dems on Handling Top Issues

The Republicans in Congress hold significant leads over the Democrats on four of the six issues that U.S. registered voters say are most important in determining how they will vote in November: the economy, the way the federal government is working, the situation with Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria, and the federal budget deficit. Democrats, by contrast, top their Republican rivals on just one of the six: "equal pay for women." (Gallup USA)

October 2014

U.S. Economic Confidence Index Rises to -10

Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index rose to -10 for the week ending Oct. 12, up from -13 the week before. Last week's index reflects the highest score to date in 2014, and the highest weekly score since August 2013. (Gallup USA)

October 2014

Americans: My Member OK, Most in Congress Are Not

In the U.S., the majority believes that most members of Congress are out of touch with average Americans, more focused on special interests than the needs of their constituents, and are corrupt. Americans are slightly more likely to say each of these things than they were in the past. At the same time, they are much less likely to say these descriptions fit their local member of Congress than to say they fit most members. (Gallup USA)

October 2014

In U.S., No Preference for Divided vs. One-Party Government

Americans lack consensus on whether it is better to have one party holding the presidency and the majority in Congress, or better to have control of each branch of government split between the two major political parties. Currently, 30% say it is better to have a one-party government, 28% say a divided government is better, and the highest percentage, 37%, say it makes no difference. (Gallup USA)

October 2014

AUSTRALASIA

National fail to get post-election bounce but leaderless Labour Party crash to lowest ever support

The first New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll since the NZ Election shows National (43.5%, down 3.54% since the September 20 Election). This isn’t unusual, National support has dropped after each of John Key’s Election victories. Support for Key’s Coalition partners has changed little overall with the Maori Party 2% (up 0.68%), Act NZ 0.5% (down 0.19%) and United Future 0.5% (up 0.28%). (Roy Morgan)

October 2014

MULTI-COUNTRY SURVEYS

Worldwide, More Men Than Women Have Full-Time Work

In every region of the world, men continue to do better than women when it comes to having full-time work for an employer. In fact, the gender gaps in Gallup's global Payroll to Population (P2P) employment rate remained just as wide in 2013 as they were five years ago. (Gallup USA)

October 2014

Publics Across the World See Religious and Ethnic Hatred as Global Threat

With growing conflicts engulfing the Middle East, people in the region name religious and ethnic hatred most frequently as the greatest threat to the world. Moreover, publics across the globe see the threat of religious and ethnic violence as a growing threat to the world’s future. But in Europe, concerns about inequality trump all other dangers and the gap between the rich and the poor is increasingly considered the world’s top problem by people living in advanced economies, including the United States. (Gallup USA)

October 2014

CYBER WORLD

Offline and falling behind: Barriers to Internet adoption (Multi-country survey)

More than 60 percent of the world’s population remains offline. Without removing crucial deterrents to Internet adoption, little will change—and more than 4 billion people may be left behind. (Mckinsey)

September 2014

Smart Watches Face Challenges As Payment System (Multi-country survey)

A recent GfK survey in China, Germany, South Korea, the UK and the US indicates that people in these countries see potential in using smartwatches to ‘carry’ tickets for passenger transport or as security keys to their computers and online accounts. The ability to transmit healthcare data via a smartwatch is also of particular interest to the majority of people. In America and China, there is openness for using smartwatches as identity cards and payment systems, although Europeans are much more hesitant about these functions.

October 13, 2014

MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA

350-43-1. Tunisian Confidence in Democracy Wanes

Ratings for Islamist Ennahda Party Have Declined Since Revolution

October 15, 2014

Similarly, when asked whether a democratic government or a leader with a strong hand could best solve the country’s problems, only 38% choose the former, down from 61% two years ago. Meanwhile, the share of the public favoring a strong leader has risen from 37% to 59%.

Still, despite waning confidence in democracy’s ability to produce results, Tunisians continue to want key features of a democratic system, such as a fair judiciary, competitive elections, the right to protest and equal rights for men and women.

At least part of the public’s discontent is explained by economics. Fully 88% describe the country’s economic situation as bad, and 56% say it is very bad. But a majority is optimistic that the economy will turn around soon – 56% expect it to improve in the next year.

These are among the major findings from the latest survey in Tunisia by the Pew Research Center, based on face-to-face interviews conducted with 1,000 respondents from April 19 to May 9, 2014. The poll also finds declining popularity for Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party that led a coalition government after the fall of Ben Ali. Though the former ruling party is expected to do well in the October parliamentary elections, just 31% express a favorable view of the organization, down from 65% in 2012.

Ratings for key Ennahda leaders have also fallen since the revolution. Only 33% view longtime party leader Rached Ghannouchi favorably, compared with 66% two years ago. Similarly, support for Hamadi Jebali, a former Prime Minister from Ennahda, has dropped precipitously since 2012 – 66% rated him positively then, compared with just 43% in the current survey.

Ratings for Ettakatol and the Congress Party, two leading secular parties, have also declined over the last two years. And most of the Tunisian political leaders tested on the survey receive mostly negative reviews. The two exceptions are caretaker prime minister, and political independent, Mehdi Jomaa, who is viewed positively by 81% of Tunisians; and Beji Caid Essebsi, a former prime minister and leader of the secularist Nidaa Tounes party, who is seen favorably by 51%. Many observers expect Essebsi and his party to do well in upcoming elections.

Decreasing Support for Democracy

About half of Tunisians (48%) believe that democracy is preferable to any other kind of government, with about a quarter saying that in some circumstances a non-democratic form of government is preferable (26%) or that the type of government does not matter (24%).

Support for democratic governance is down from the 54% who said it was preferable in 2013, and the 63% who said the same in 2012.

There is a significant age gap on preference for democracy. Only 43% of Tunisians between 18 and 29 think democracy is preferable, while more than half of those 50 and older (54%) hold this view. Younger respondents (30%) are more likely than older people (18%) to say that the type of government they have does not matter to them.

Preferences for democracy also differ by religiosity among Tunisian Muslims (estimated to be greater than 99% of the population). About half of those that pray five times or more per day (52%) say that democracy is preferable, compared with 41% of those who report praying less frequently. Similarly, supporters of the main Islamist Ennahda party are more favorable toward a democratic form of government.

A majority of Tunisians (59%) now say they should rely on a leader with a strong hand to solve their country’s problems, up 19 percentage points in just a year. Roughly four-in-ten (38%) believe that a democratic form of government is the best solution to the mounting challenges Tunisia faces, a substantial decline from 2013 when more than half (53%) said democracy was the best way. Following Ben Ali’s ouster, 61% thought a democratic form of government was preferable to a strong leader.

When asked to weigh the importance of a good democracy versus a strong economy, 73% of people express the opinion that a strong economy is more important, a significant increase from last year and a 14 point jump in two years. Just a quarter prioritize a good democracy, down steeply from 2012 when 40% said a good democracy was more important.

Respondents with a post-secondary education (35%) are more likely than those with a primary school education or less (23%) to say that having a good democracy is most important.

When asked which is more important, having a democratic government with some risk of political instability, or a stable government with a risk it will not be fully democratic, 62% of Tunisians say they prefer stability. This has increased dramatically since 2012 when just 38% said they would prefer stability over democracy. After the political turmoil of the last two years, only a third say that a democratic government is worthwhile, even if there is instability, down from the majority (55%) who believed the same in 2012.

Women are much more likely to prioritize stability. Nearly seven-in-ten women (69%) express that a stable government is more important than a democratic one, while 55% of men say the same.

Strong Support for Democratic Rights and Institutions

Although there is widespread discontent with democracy, Tunisians say they value many key features of a democratic system.Strong majorities believe that all of the democratic rights and institutions included on the survey are at least somewhat important to Tunisia’s future.

More than nine-in-ten believe that having a judicial system that treats everyone in the same way (94%) is very important for the country’s future, up 13 points since last year. Similarly, 92% of Tunisians say having honest, regularly held elections in which people have a choice of at least two parties is very important, an increase of 21 percentage points in just a year.

Nearly all Tunisians (96%) say that improved economic conditions are very important for Tunisia’s future, up nine percentage points from last year’s substantial 87%.

Law and order is a priority for most Tunisians – 81% believe that stability is crucial for Tunisia’s future. More than six-in-ten also think that the freedom to peacefully protest (68%), equal rights for women (66%), freedom to criticize the government (64%) and an uncensored media (63%) are critical for Tunisia’s future.

Tunisians are less likely to express the view that allowing religious parties to participate in government is essential for the country. About half (48%) say that this is very important. Ennahda supporters are much more likely to believe this – 58% say that allowing religious parties is very important, compared with 43% of those who give Ennahda low marks.

Though most of these democratic values are shared across Tunisia, the greatest disagreements are about the importance of religious parties and women’s rights for Tunisia’s future. Perhaps unsurprisingly, support for allowing religious parties in government is higher among more religious Tunisians. Two-thirds of those who believe laws should strictly follow the teachings of the Quran believe that allowing religious parties to be a part of government is very important for their country’s future, while just 41% of those who say that the Quran should have a moderate or no influence on laws believe the same. Similarly, roughly half (52%) of Tunisian Muslims who pray five or more times a day agree that allowing religious parties to be a part of government is very important, compared with 43% of those who report praying less than five times a day. Additionally, Tunisians with lower levels of education (52%) are more likely to say that religious parties are critical compared to their more educated counterparts (39%).

Meanwhile, views about gender equality vary substantially by gender. More than three-quarters of women (78%) say that it is very important for the country’s future that women have equal rights, while just 55% of men say the same.

Islam in Tunisian Democracy

The majority of Tunisians believe that Islam should play at least some role in their government. More than half (53%) say that laws should follow the values and principles of Islam, but not strictly follow the teachings of the Quran. Three-in-ten believe that laws should strictly follow the teachings of the Quran, while 15% believe laws in Tunisia should not be influenced at all by the Quran, which is relatively unchanged over the last year.

Muslims who pray five times a day or more are especially likely to believe the Quran should play a strong role in Tunisian government. More than a third of this group (37%) believe laws should strictly adhere to the Quran, compared to just 21% of less religious Tunisian Muslims. Backers of Ennahda (39%) are also more likely to say that laws should strictly follow the Quran than its opponents (26%).

Most Tunisians Are Dissatisfied, but Optimistic

A broad majority of Tunisians (81%) express dissatisfaction with the way things are going in their country. Fewer than two-in-ten (17%) say they are satisfied with the country’s direction. Just 13% of 18-29 year olds are satisfied, while slightly more of those 50 and over (24%) express satisfaction with national conditions.

Nearly nine-in-ten Tunisians (88%) say the current economic situation in their country is bad, including 56% who believe the economy is very bad. Perceptions of economic conditions in Tunisia, where GDP growth has slowed recently, have been quite negative since the 2011 revolution.

However, people are slightly more optimistic when it comes to the country’s economic future. A majority (56%) now believes that the economic situation will improve over the next 12 months, up six percentage points from last year, while 18% think the economy will worsen and 21% say it will remain the same over the next year. Despite the increase since last year, economic optimism has not yet returned to initial post-revolution levels when 75% of Tunisians expected economic improvement.

Optimism about Tunisia’s economic future differs among key groups. Older Tunisians have a significantly more positive outlook than their younger counterparts. Nearly two-thirds of Tunisians age 50 or older (64%) are confident that the economic situation will improve in the next 12 months, compared with just 48% of 18 to 29 year olds. This greater negativity may not be surprising given recent estimates of an unemployment rate of 38% for young Tunisians (15 to 24 year olds), more than twice the rate for the country’s overall population. Additionally, women are significantly more optimistic than men about the Tunisian economy, with six-in-ten women believing the economy will improve in the next year compared with 51% of men.

Worse Off Than under Ben Ali

Roughly half of Tunisians (51%) say that the recent years of revolutionary turmoil have left the country worse off than it was under Tunisia’s long-time ruler, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Only 35% say Tunisia is better off, a view virtually unchanged from 2013.

Tunisians with a post-secondary education (44%) are considerably more likely than those with a primary education or less (30%) to say that the country is better off without Ben Ali. Similarly, 45% of people with higher incomes say the country is better off following Ben Ali’s ouster, compared with 27% of lower income Tunisians.1 Additionally, men (40%) are more likely than women (30%) to believe the country is better off without Ben Ali.

Strong Support for Jomaa, Not Many Others

Tunisians show overwhelming support for Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa, a newcomer to national politics who took office in January 2014. Roughly eight-in-ten (81%) express a favorable opinion of Jomaa, while just 11% give him a negative rating. About half (51%) also give a favorable rating to Beji Caid Essebsi, chairman and presidential candidate for the secular Nidaa Tounes party, up 10 percentage points since last year.

While Jomaa receives very positive ratings, public opinion of other politicians reflects the disappointment in national leadership during Tunisia’s democratic transition. Hamadi Jebali, the former Ennahda prime minister, has seen a substantial dip in popularity since leaving office. In 2012, 66% of Tunisians gave him a favorable rating. Today, just 43% give him positive marks. Approval of Interim President Moncef Marzouki has also declined. Roughly a third (34%) expresses favorable opinions of the Congress for the Republic party’s founder, a drop of ten percentage points over the last year.

Tunisians also give lackluster ratings to President of the Constituent Assembly Mustapha Ben Jaafar, Ennahda party leader Rached Ghannouchi, Secretary-General of the Republican Party Maya Jribi, and Secretary-General of the Party of Progressive Conservatives Hachmi Hamdi, on par with their ratings in 2013.

Leading Political Organizations Fare Poorly

Tunisians are markedly unhappy with the political organizations at the center of the country’s struggle toward democracy over the last three years. Of all the organizations included in the survey, the one that fares the best is the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), a powerful group credited with brokering a deal to help jumpstart the stagnated post-revolutionary transition last fall. More than half (53%) express a favorable opinion of the long-standing organization, while 37% rate it negatively.

All other political organizations garner less than a third of favorable responses. Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party that took heat for being unwilling to share power after winning Tunisia’s first free election, receives slightly more support than others, with positive ratings from 31% of Tunisians. While Ennahda accrues the greatest amount of negativity (64%), it also has the greatest recognition of all the political parties tested. The organization’s favorability has declined precipitously over the last two years, falling 34 percentage points since 2012 when 65% of Tunisians held a favorable opinion of the group.

Ettakatol, also called the Democratic Forum for Labor and Liberties, and the Congress Party for the Republic garner similar scores. Only about a quarter of Tunisians (26%) rate these groups favorably, while a majority express unfavorable opinions of them. Both secular, center-left parties have seen similar declines in their favorability of roughly 20 percentage points since 2012 (22 points for the Congress Party and 18 points for Ettakatol).

A quarter of Tunisians supports the Republican Party, a liberal, secular opposition party. Just over half of Tunisians (53%) give the Republican Party negative marks, little changed since 2013.

Mixed Reviews of National Institutions

Despite the substantial portion of Tunisians that believe they are worse off since the Jasmine Revolution, opinions of Tunisian institutions are relatively mixed. Fully 95% give the military positive ratings. The police also receive high ratings, with 82% support in 2014, up from 71% last year. Six-in-ten or more also believe financial institutions (62%), the media (62%) and corporations (60%) have a good influence on the way things are going in Tunisia. Roughly half (52%) of Tunisians give the national government high marks, while just 41% rate the government negatively.

Prime Minister Jomaa, the leader of the current caretaker government, receives some of the highest support. Roughly three-quarters of Tunisians (77%) believe he has a good influence on the country. Just 15% give Jomaa negative ratings.

People have more mixed reviews of trade unions (45% good) and the court system (44%), on par with 2013. Attitudes toward civil servants are also split with 49% seeing them as good.

Receiving some of the lowest marks are Tunisia’s religious leaders. Just a third rate religious leaders favorably, falling 11 percentage points since last year, and a full 17 points since 2012.

Three-in-ten or fewer say that President Marzouki (30%) and the Constituent Assembly (28%) have a good influence on the country. While public opinion of the Assembly, which approved Tunisia’s new constitution earlier this year, has improved over the last year, it has not returned to the higher ratings it enjoyed just after its creation when 45% of Tunisians gave it high marks in 2012.

Young people and the highly educated are generally more critical of national institutions. People age 18 to 29 are less likely than those 50 and older to express favorable ratings of the national government (41%), Prime Minister Jomaa (71%), the Constituent Assembly (22%) and the media (57%). Individuals with post-secondary education express considerably less positive views of the media (45%), religious leaders (18%), the court system (34%), civil servants (36%), the police (70%) and trade unions (31%) than those with a primary education or less.

Government Working for Women?

People are split over whether their current government is doing enough to ensure that women have the same rights as men. Roughly a third (31%) believes the government is doing the right amount, up eight points in the last year. Similarly, fewer people say the government is not doing enough (37%) than last year when 51% said this. Around two-in-ten (18%) said the government is doing too much for women’s rights, the same as last year. Young people are more likely to be dissatisfied with the government’s efforts to protect the rights of women than their elder counterparts – 46% of those 18 to 29 believe the government is doing too little, while just 27% of those 50 and over say the same. However, there is no significant gender divide on this question.

Source: http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/10/15/tunisian-confidence-in-democracy-wanes/

350-43-2. Despite security concerns, Mauritians feel safe in their homes

While crime and insecurity remain a leading concern, most Mauritians feel safe in their neighbourhoods and homes, according to a new Afrobarometer survey.

Very few Mauritians report having been victims of theft or physical violence, and the proportion of survey respondents who identified crime and insecurity as the nation’s most important problem has declined, the 2014 survey findings show.

Key findings

Crime and security, cited as the most important national problem for Mauritians in 2012, dropped to second place (after unemployment) in 2014. Only 13% of Mauritians placed crime and security as first among the top three national problems, compared to 21% in 2012.

Four out of five Mauritians (83%) feel safe walking in their neighbourhoods, and 94% say they never fear crime in their homes.

Nine out of 10 Mauritians (91%) had not been victims of theft in their homes in the past year, and 98% say they had not been physically attacked.

Afrobarometer

Afrobarometer is an African-led, non-partisan research project that has measured countries’ social, political, and economic atmosphere since 1999. In its sixth survey round (2014-15), it is covering 35 countries. In Mauritius, the face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults were conducted by StraConsult. Afrobarometer is funded by the UK Department of International Development (DFID), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the World Bank.

The Afrobarometer team in Mauritius, led by StraConsult, interviewed 1,200 adult Mauritians in June and July 2014. A sample of this size yields results with a margin of error of +/-3% at a 95% confidence level. A previous survey was conducted in Mauritius in 2012.

Charts

All figures for the following tables are percentages rounded to whole numbers. Due to rounding,

the figures may not add to exactly 100%.

Respondents were asked: In your opinion, what are the most important problems facing this country that

government should address? (% citing unemployment, crime, poverty, etc., among the top three

problems)

Respondents were asked: Over the past year, how often, if ever, have you or anyone in your family: Felt

unsafe walking in your neighbourhood? (% who said Never, Just once or twice, Several times, Many Times

or always)

Source: http://www.afrobarometer.org/files/documents/press_release/mau_r6_pr_crime_security.pdf

350-43-3. Mauritians support proportional representation, split on other reforms

Amidst ongoing discussions about reform of the Mauritian electoral system, respondents in the nationally representative survey expressed support for a more equitable system based on proportional representation. But regarding a shift, proposed by a coalition of leading political parties, to a Second Republic with a strong elected president, Mauritians are divided between reform and the status quo. Similarly, public opinion remains divided on the question of whether to continue representation based on ethnic and religious belonging.

Key findings

By a 2-to-1 ratio, Mauritians support the introduction of proportional representation (PR) for the National Assembly, with 51% in favour vs. 25% opposed (Figure 1). A plurality (42%) is in favour of setting the threshold of eligibility to 10% of votes for political parties to get a seat in the National Assembly under PR (Figure 2).

Almost half (46%) of citizens are in favour of the current system of representation in the National Assembly based on ethnic or religious belonging, while 40% support reform. (Figure 3).

Opinions are divided between those who believe that the prime minister should retain his executive powers (43%) and those who think that there should be an elected president with more powers (45%) (Figure 4). Rural residents voice stronger support for more powers to the president (51%) than their urban counterparts (35%).

Afrobarometer

Afrobarometer is an African-led, non-partisan research project that has measured countries’ social, political, and economic atmosphere since 1999. In its sixth survey round (2014-15), it is covering 35 countries. In Mauritius, face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults were conducted by StraConsult . Afrobarometer is funded by the UK Department of International Development (DFID), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Mo Ibrahim Foundation, and World Bank.

Charts

All figures for the following tables are percentages rounded to whole numbers. Due to rounding, the figures may not add to exactly 100%.

Figure 1: Introduction of proportional representation

Source: http://www.afrobarometer.org/files/documents/press_release/mau_r6_pr_electoral_political_reforms.pdf

SOUTHEAST ASIA

350-43-4. Net satisfaction ratings at +52 for Vice-President Binay, +36 for Senate President Drilon, +13 for Speaker Belmonte, and +10 for Chief Justice Sereno

October 13, 2014

Third Quarter 2014 Social Weather Survey:

Vice-President Binay's net satisfaction rating (% satisfied minus % dissatisfied) was very good, at +52 in September 2014, but down by 15 points from +67 in June 2014. Out of 17 surveys since September 2010, it was excellent in 8 and very good in 9 [Chart 1, Table 3].

Senate President Drilon's net satisfaction rating rose by one grade to good from moderate, at +36, up by 16 points from +20 in the previous quarter and similar to +37 in September 2013 [Chart 2, Table 4].

Speaker Belmonte's net satisfaction rating rose by one grade to moderate from neutral, at +13 in September, up by 11 points from +2 in June. Out of 17 surveys since September 2010, it was moderate in 10 and neutralin 7 [Chart 3, Table 5].

Chief Justice Sereno's net satisfaction rating also rose by one grade to moderate from neutral, at +10 in September, up by 4 points from +6 in June. Out of 8 surveys since December 2012, it was moderate in 5 andneutral in 3 [Chart 4, Table 6].

Good for Supreme Court, Moderate for Senate, House of Representatives, and Cabinet

The net satisfaction rating of the Senate was moderate, at +28 in September, up by 16 points from +12 in June. Out of 17 surveys since September 2010, it was good in 8, very good in 6 and moderate in 3 [Chart 5, Tables 7 to 9].

The net satisfaction rating of the House of Representatives was also moderate, at +21, up by 8 points from +13 in the previous quarter. Out of 17 surveys since September 2010, it was good in 10 and moderate in 7.

It was good for the Supreme Court, at +32 in September, up by 2 points from +30 in June. It has been goodsince August 2012 [Chart 6, Table 10].

The net satisfaction rating of the Cabinet as a whole rose by one grade to moderate from neutral, at +18, up by 11 points from +7 in the previous quarter. It has been moderate since September 2010, except when it was a good +33 in August 2012 and a neutral +7 in June 2014

Survey Background

The September 2014 Social Weather Survey was conducted from September 26-29, 2014 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide, 300 each in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao).

The area estimates were weighted by National Statistics Office medium-population projections for 2014 to obtain the national estimates.

The quarterly Social Weather Surveys on public satisfaction with the Vice-President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the top government institutions are not commissioned, but are done on SWS's own initiative and released as a public service, with first printing rights assigned to BusinessWorld.

SWS employs its own staff for questionnaire design, sampling, fieldwork, data-processing, and analysis, and does not outsource any of its survey operations.

[SWS terminology for Net Satisfaction Ratings: +70 and above, "excellent"; +50 to +69, "very good"; +30 to +49, "good"; +10 to +29, "moderate", +9 to -9, "neutral"; -10 to -29, "poor"; -30 to -49, "bad"; -50 to -69, "very bad"; -70 and below, "execrable". SWS considers the movement from one classification to another as either an "upgrade" or "downgrade".]

Table 1
Description: http://www.sws.org.ph/pr20141013bvis_01.gif

Table 2
Description: http://www.sws.org.ph/pr20141013bvis_02.gif

Chart 1
Description: http://www.sws.org.ph/pr20141013bvis_03.gif

Source: http://www.sws.org.ph/

EAST EUROPE

350-43-5. IRI Ukraine Pre-Election Poll Shows Strong Opposition To Russian Aggression, Support For Kyiv Government

October 14, 2014

According to a new Ukraine poll released today by IRI, Ukrainians overwhelmingly oppose Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine. The poll also shows strong support for the Kyiv government as the country prepares for parliamentary elections on October 26.

Strong Majority in Every Region Opposes Russia’s Military Aggression
Despite continued claims to the contrary from Moscow and pro-Russian separatists, 89 percent of respondents oppose Russia sending troops to protect Russian-speaking citizens.

The opposition to Russia’s actions is seen across all regions – 78 percent in the east, 89 percent in the south, 93 percent in central Ukraine and 99 percent in the west. It also transcends language. Seventy-nine percent of Russian speakers and 95 percent of Ukrainian speakers oppose the Russian actions. IRI noted that this was the first national poll in some time to include respondents from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (states).

The poll also shows that Ukrainians continue to support an undivided Ukraine. An overwhelming majority (80 percent) would like Ukraine to remain a unitary country. Only two percent of Ukrainians would like to see Ukraine divided into several countries.

Clear Support for Kyiv Government

Despite continuing concerns over the crisis in eastern Ukraine, a majority of Ukrainians voiced their support for the central government in Kyiv, with 55 percent of Ukrainians approving of the job that President Poroshenko is doing and 35 percent disapproving.

Support for President Poroshenko’s policy of joining the European Union also increased from 53 percent in April 2014 to 59 percent, representing another indication of support for the Poroshenko government. On the other hand, support for membership in President Putin’s Customs Union dropped from 24 percent to 17 percent during that same time. Finally, a large majority (66 percent) of Ukrainians have a negative view of Russia.

Some observers believe that President Poroshenko has been hindered by having to work with a parliament elected under his predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych. The current parliament, elected in 2012 under former President Yanukovych, registered a 15 percent approval in the IRI poll. “It reinforces the timeliness and importance of the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26,” according to IRI president Mark Green, who also noted that “the approval rating of parliament has declined sharply in this poll.”

Voter Enthusiasm for Parliamentary Elections is High

Despite the ongoing violence and instability in eastern Ukraine, voter enthusiasm for the October 26 parliamentary elections is high, with an overwhelming 73 percent of respondents reporting they either will vote or are likely to vote. Although enthusiasm for the parliamentary elections is highest in the west (91 percent) and center (82 percent), a majority in all regions say they either will or are likely to vote, with 55 percent in the east and 62 percent in the south.

When asked which party they would vote for, 32 percent of likely voters responded the president’s political party, the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko, the Radical Party had the support of 10 percent of likely voters, Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna Party was third with seven percent, Civic Position with six percent and People’s Front received the support of five percent.

Green said, “The new poll suggests that chances are good that President Poroshenko will gain a solid working majority as a result of the elections.”

Methodology
The poll was conducted in all regions of Ukraine (including Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts) from September 12-25, 2014 with a randomly selected sample of 1,200 permanent residents of Ukraine aged 18 and older and eligible to vote. The margin of error does not exceed plus or minus 2.8 percent, and the response rate was 63 percent.

The survey was conducted by Baltic Surveys/The Gallup Organization, with field work carried out by Rating Group Ukraine. The survey was funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Source: http://iri.org/news-events-press-center/news/iri-ukraine-pre-election-poll-shows-strong-opposition-russian-aggressi

350-43-6. Russia: Only automotive industry in decline

Published: 23.09.2014

In September 2014 research agency Romir conducted the national survey and asked respondents about their major expenses over the previous 6 months and what they are planning to buy in the next half of the year. The similar questions were asked during surveys in 2013, 2012 and 2011.

The survey covered the representative sample of 1000 respondents aged 18-60+, residing in cities, rural areas and all the federal districts.

Economic situation in Russia was rather hard this spring and summer. Against the aggravated political background in Ukraine GDP continued to decline from 1-1.5 % in the first half of 2013 to 0.5-0.9% in the first half of 2014. Investment flow declined by 2% vs. the first half of the previous year. Consumer inflation accelerated from 6-6.5% to 8-8.5% per annum. Salary and income growth rates dropped from 12% to 9% in nominal terms. Regardless the inflation rate the indicators dropped more than five-fold: from 5% of the real income growth to 0.5-0.9%.

Exchange value of ruble reached 37 rubles for dollar and 48 rubles for euro in the beginning of the fall. Sales growth rates accelerated form 4-8% in the beginning of the year to 25% in July-August. 10 tour operators went bankrupt one by one including 3 large agencies. Summer holidays of thousands of travelers were ruined. The good news is a good yield of crops and housing sector growth.

Such a negative background implies that consumers are not very enthusiastic about the major expenses they already had and planning in the next 6 months. However, these concerns were true only for a car market. The share of those who already purchased a car over the previous 6 months and those planning to buy one in the next 6 months reduced by 1.5 times vs. previous years (see Diagram 1).

Other markets of durable goods haven’t been affected by these factors yet. But first things first. 27% of respondents claimed that they didn’t make any major purchases over the previous 6 months. This is a quite stable indicator. Last year it amounted to 3%, in 2011 and 22-24% in 2012.

36% of respondents said that they are not planning any major purchases in the next 6 months. This correlates with the data received in previous years. Every year the share of those who are not planning any major purchases in the next period exceeds the share of those who didn’t make any major purchases over the previous period by 7-12 pp. It can be explained by the fact that such expenses as emergency medical services, car repairs, home appliances replacement, and purchase of mobile phone or accessories are described as spontaneous and impulsive.

Diagram 1. Major expenses in 2011-2014. (%).

Description: http://romir.ru/images/upload/pic_75667_1413210636.jpg

Source: Romir agency, September 2014

More than half of the respondents (45%) mentioned clothing as one of the largest purchase over the previous 6 months. This is 2 times higher vs. 2013 but almost equal to the figures shown in 2011 (44%). 40% of the participants told that purchase of clothing will probably be the largest expense item in their budget in the next half of the year. These figures slightly exceeded the findings of the previous years. Thus, we may conclude that consumers are not going to buy less but cheaper clothes.

However, regarding that the share of expenses spent on the purchase of clothing and footwear of the total expenses over the last 15 years dropped from 12-13% to 5.5-6% which is equal to the average level in Europe and world in general, we assume that there won’t be any significant reduction of the real expenses in the coming years. The nominal expenses will continue to grow at least at the inflation level, i.e. not less than by 6-8% per annum.

Every fifth household (21%) spent large funds on the health services over the last 6 months vs. 14% in previous year and 24% in 2011. Thus, we can safely assert that medical expenses at least do not decline. Only 15% of respondents expect to spend much of their funds on the health services in the next half of the year (See Diagram 2). As some of the expenses are made in urgent cases there won’t be any significant decline in expenses on the medical services in the coming months.

20% of the Russian HHs spend much of their budget on holidays. These figures are not lower than previous years. The failure of 2013 shouldn’t be taken into account because this year the survey was conducted before the summer vacation season started. Expenses regarding the holidays and vacation is expected to reduce in the coming 6 months. The high season has almost finished. And now less than 10% of households are planning to go on holidays in fall-winter period (See Diagram 2).

Diagram 2. What respondents purchased over the previous 6 months and are planning to purchase in the next 6 months (%).

Description: http://romir.ru/images/upload/pic_32845_1413210699.jpg

Source: Romir agency, September 2014

Every seventh household (14%) spent money on repair and living environment over the previous 6 months (installation of windows, doors, plumbing and etc.) in their apartment, summer or country house. This is higher than in 2013 but lower than in 2011 (See Diagram 1). The share of those who spend much money on repairs and living environment may reduce. It can be explained by the fact that summer season is already over (main activities concerning repair of living environment are done during this period). At least 10 % of the respondents are planning these expenses (See Diagram 2).

For every ninth household (11%) entertainment tend to be the largest expenses over the previous 6 months: movies, theatres, concerts and restaurants. This is much higher than in previous 2 years. Only 8% of respondents are considering these expenses in the coming 6 months. However, entertainment expenses are unlikely to reduce. High theatrical and concert season has only begun. By the way, concerts and restaurants are not always planned.

Every year consumers tend to save up on this expense item and every year they fail to do it. At least revenues of the Russian film distribution rises by 15-20% every year (in rubles) over the last 5 years. Every eighth household (12%) spent money on the education over the previous half year. This indicator is at the same level as for the last 3 years. 10% of respondents expect these expenses in the next 6 months. Thus, we don’t see any intentions to save up.

For every ninth household (11%) mobile phone or smart phone tend to be the largest expense. These figures were much lower than in previous year and 2 years ago and the same 11% as in 2011. Only 4.5 % of the HHs is planning to purchase mobile phones in the coming 6 months. Purchase of mobile phones, have already become spontaneous. And even the slowdown in the consumer lending growth rates haven’t affected the situation at all. We can safely say that purchase of mobile phones in the next 6 months won’t be lower than in the previous year.

Every tenth household (10%) purchased furniture over the previous 6 months. This indicator returned to its level of 2011 being significantly higher than results achieved in previous 2 years. 7% of respondents are planning to buy furniture in the next 6 months. Thus, buyer activity isn’t expected to decline in this market.

Only one out of 12 HHs (8,5%) spent much of their funds on repairs, technical service and tuning of the car over the last 6 months vs. 9-12% in previous years. It’s possible that some car owners rejected preventive and optional services or put them off, for instance, for the next year. Only 4 % of the participants or 9% of car owners are planning these expenses for the next 6 months.

However, demand for car services isn’t expected to decline significantly. Based on the previous surveys less than half of these refers to the planned activities. Most of them are spontaneous and impulsive as a result of the traffic accident or some kind of failure. Thus, the results of the survey are quite optimistic.

Despite the negative summer sentiments and reasonable concerns about economic perspectives of the coming fall, as for Russia in general and household income in particular, the majority of consumers remain positive about the major expenses. Large consumer markets in Russia still have the potential for the moderately balanced growth, except for the automotive industry that went through crisis in spring.

Source: http://romir.ru/studies/602_1411416000/

350-43-7. Prices Are Increasing! Who Is To Blame?

Every fifth Russian who noticed an increase in prices for goods and services blame sanctions for that.

MOSCOW, September 23, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information concerning whether Russians noticed an increase in prices over the recent months; and what it was caused by.

A relative majority of respondents (45%) buys products and keep house on their own; they are basically women rather than men (64% vs 21%), and elderly respondents rather than persons aged 18-24 (54% vs 26%). More than one-third of respondents (37%) report to do these activities along with other members of family. Every fifth (18%) has never done anything like this.

Those respondents who do grocery shopping themselves say that over the recent one or two months prices for meat have increased 85% (55% of them notice substantial increase; 30% - slight increase). Every tenth (11%) says that meat products have not risen in price; only 2% even mentioned a decline in price.

Three-thirds of respondents who keep house on their own (77%) report that utility bills have increased. Other 77% report high dairy products` prices. Sixty-eight percent of Russians noticed an increase in prices for fruits and vegetables; 20% report no changes. Gasoline prices have increased according to 60% of Russians (34% - big increase; 26% - slight increase). Sixty percent say that bread price has increased (slightly - 42%; considerably - 18%); one-third of respondents (36%) say that pastry prices have not changed.

Every fifth Russian (21%) is confident that the increase in prices is due to measures against Russia and Russia`s retaliatory measures. One-tenth of respondents (10%) believe that it deals with the situation in Ukraine; 9% blame inflation; 7% accuse resellers; 3% consider that this is due to the general political situation in the world.

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on September 13-14, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. Data are weighted by gender, age, education, working status and type of settlement. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.

Who usually does the grocery shopping and keeps house in your family? (closed-ended question, one answer)
	Total respondents	Men	Women
Mainly me	45	21	64
Me along with other family members	37	47	28
Other family member, not me	18	31	7
Don`t know	1	1	1

How would you assess the increase in prices for the following products over the recent one or two months? (closed-ended question, one answer per each category of goods, % of those who buy products on his/her own)
	Prices have considerably decreased	Prices have decreased but not substantially	Prices have not changed	Prices have increased but not considerably	Prices have considerably increased	Don`t know
Meat products	1	1	11	30	55	2
Utility bills	1	1	17	39	38	4
Dairy products	1	1	18	43	34	3
Fruits , vegetables	1	5	20	39	29	6
Gasoline	1	1	9	26	34	29
Bread, pastry	1	1	36	42	18	2

If you noticed any increase in prices, what it was caused by? (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who buy products on his/her own)
	Total respondents
Sanctions against Russia and Russia’s retaliatory measures	21
Developments in Ukraine	10
Inflation	9
Entrepreneurs and resellers artificially increase prices	7
Spending budget money on refugees and humanitarian aid for Ukraine	4
Prices increase every year	4
Political situation worldwide	3
Spending budget money for Crimea	2
Government does not control prices	2
Gasoline price increase	2
Corruption, bureaucracy	2
Unstable economic situation, crisis	2
Fall of ruble, increase of dollar and euro	2
Wrong policies of authorities	2
Prices always increase in autumn	1
Spending for the Sochi Olympic Games	1
Stagnation in agricultural and industrial sectors	1
Lack of competitiveness (monopoly)	<1
Other	3
Don`t know	29

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!

Source: http://www.wciom.com/index.php?id=61&uid=1001

350-43-7. World Government: Myth Or Reality?

MOSCOW, September 17, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information concerning the following issues: whether Russians believe that the world government exists; who its members are; and what they are pursuing.

A relative majorotyof Russians (45%) agree that there is a global organization which controls the governments of the world. Those who think so are mainly respondents with higher education diplomas (51%) and high income (53%), and non-parliament parties’ supporters (56%). One-third of respondents (32%) oppose them stating that such a structure does not exist. The share of the undecided makes up 23%.

Those who believe in the world government say that it is pursuing the world leadership (32%). Every tenth (10%) is confident that all members of the world government satisfy only self-interests. Some believe that they are eager to conquer lands (2%), to weaken countries or to unleash wars (2%). Only 3% say that this organization is striving to achieve the common good.

The world government comprises top businessmen, according to 22% of Russians Others say the members are politicians from all around the world (5%), western politicians (2%) or namely B. Obama, J. Bush, Elizabeth II et cet. (3%). Two percent of respondents are confident that the world government consists of the oligarchs and politicians. Six percent of respondents cite the U.S.A. (Americans); masons were mentioned by 4%.

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on August 23-24, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. Data are weighted by gender, age, education, working status and type of settlement. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.

Some people believe that there is an organization or a group of persons that influence global processes and control the activities of national governments. Others say that such an organization does not exist. What statement do you agree with? (closed-ended question, one answer)
	Total	Elementary (incomplete secondary) education	Secondary education (school, vocational school)	Specialized secondary education (technical school)	Incomplete higher (not less than three years in a higher education institute), higher education
There is an organization or a group of persons that influence the global affairs and control the activities of national governments	45	41	42	43	51
There is no organization that could influence world events and control the activities of national governments	32	18	32	35	30
Don`t know	23	41	26	21	19

Organization or persons who influence the global processes and control the activities of national governments are called the world government. In your opinion, what is the world government pursuing? (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who think that the world government exists)
	Total respondents
Strive for power/ world power/ controlling other countries and global processes	32
Richness (personal benefit/ benefits of a small group of persons)	10
Preserving the balance, the order/ common good	3
Annexation of territories and natural resources	2
Disintegration of countries/wars/people`s disunity	2
Regulation of population size	2
Destroy (enslave, oppress) Russians and Russia	2
Other	3
Don`t know	48

What does the world government consist of? (open-ended question, any number of answers, % of those who think that the world government exists)
	Total respondents
Oligarchs, world`s most powerful businessmen	22
USA, Americans	6
Certain world leaders	5
Masons	4
Certain politicians: Obama, Bush, the British Queen et cet.	3
American oligarchs	2
Western politicians	2
Oligarchs and all politicians	2
Jews	2
Great Britain, British	1
Germany	1
Mafia, criminals, terrorists	1
Representatives of all countries	1
Other	3
Don`t know	5

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!

Source: http://www.wciom.com/index.php?id=61&uid=1000

350-43-8. Russia: A Country Of Opportunities

According to Russians, Russia is a good place to fulfill yourself; least favorable countries are Eastern countries.

MOSCOW, September 16, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information concerning the following issues: whether the number of Russians willing to move abroad changed, and what countries are regarded to be the best place for living.

A relative majority of Russians (42%) considers that over the recent years the share of Russians who are willing to move permanently abroad has not changed. Every fourth (24%) says that its number has decreased. At the same time, over a year the share of Russians who think that migration moods have intensified has declined (from 29% in 2013 to18% in 2014).

More than two-thirds (68%) are confident that heart-to-heart communication is possible nowhere in the world except for Russia. Few people say that warm talks can be encountered in western (8%) and in eastern (2%) countries. Twenty percent of respondents believe that a good company can be found in any country in the world. About half of respondents (53%) consider that Russia provides more opportunities for bringing up children and blocking them from negative effects; one-quarter of respondents (25%) think that chances are equal everywhere.

Every second opts for Russia in terms of safe living conditions (51%) and high quality products (51%). Forty-six percent of Russians say that Russia has good environmental conditions. Fifty-one percent of respondents believe that Russia is a good place to live the way you want. Forty-seven are confident that it is in Russia where you can spend your time in an interesting manner (60% among respondents aged; 34% among those who are aged18-24).

Forty-four percent of respondents believe that it is easier to find a job in Russia (49% among residents of small cities; 34% among residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg): fewer respondents cite western countries (22%) or say that the opportunities are equal in any part of the world (23%). Thirty-nine percent of Russians believe that Russia is a good country to start a business (23% - Western countries; 20% - anywhere).

According to 44% of Russians, it is better to get education in Russia; 30% prefer Europe and the U.S. (35% are people who possess higher education diploma; 14% have low level of education). Forty-one percent consider that Russia provides more opportunities in terms of financial well-being (29% - Western countries; 20% - everywhere); 41% are confident that it is in Russia where you can easily solve the housing problem (23% - western countries; 21% - everywhere). The share of those who believe that Russia is a good place to preserve your health makes up 41% (most of them are elderly respondents: 50% vs 36% young respondents).

The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on June 28-29, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. Data are weighted by gender, age, education, working status and type of settlement. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.

In your opinion, has the share of Russians willing to move permanently abroad increased/decreased or remained the same over the recent years? (closed-ended questions, one answer)
	2013	2014
Today the share of such people has increased	29	18
Today the share of such people is the same as before	37	42
Today the share of such people has decreased	21	24
Don`t know	14	15

In your opinion, what country provides more opportunities for … (closed-ended questions, one answer per each statement)
	Russia	Western countries: North America and Europe	Eastern countries: China, Japan, South Korea	Equally	Don`t know
Heart-to-heart communication with nice people	68	8	2	20	2
Raising good children, blocking them from negative influences	53	11	4	25	7
Living in safety	51	16	5	22	6
Purchasing high quality foods	51	16	5	22	6
Living as you want	51	18	2	20	9
Enjoying your free time	47	19	5	26	3
Living in good environmental conditions	46	16	9	21	8
Finding good job	44	22	3	23	8
Getting high quality education	44	30	3	19	4
Providing financially for yourself and your family	41	29	4	20	6
Staying healthy	41	25	6	21	7
Solving housing problems	41	23	4	21	11
Starting a business; running a business	39	23	4	20	14

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!

Source: http://www.wciom.com/index.php?id=61&uid=998

WEST EUROPE

350-43-9. Personal allowances rise the most popular of conference season tax pledges

Liberal Democrats take credit for this Parliament’s allowance increase

Published:16 October 2014

Fieldwork:11-14 October 2014

The latest polling from Ipsos MORI shows that tax pledges from each party were welcomed by the British public, but with the rise in personal allowances the stand-out favourite. More than eight in ten (85%) support increasing the threshold before people pay income tax to £12,500 per year, while just nine percent oppose it.

The Liberal Democrats have retained most of the credit for the rise in personal allowances in the current Parliament – though an increased number are unsure who should get credit. Four in ten (41%) think the Liberal Democrats deserve credit for the rise in the threshold before people pay income tax from £6,475 in 2010 to £10,000 this year, while 26% credit the Conservatives and 28% say they ‘don’t know’. Both the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives are credited by fewer Britons than in March of this year, when 45% said the Liberal Democrats deserve most credit and 33% credited the Conservatives; the number who don’t know is now up ten points, from 18% in March.

Around six in ten each support the other main tax pledges trumpeted over conference season; 64% support increasing the 40% tax rate threshold to £50,000 per year (22% oppose it), 63% support a mansion tax on homes worth more than two million pounds (26% oppose) and 61% back increasing the top rate of tax to 50% (30% oppose).

Some policies were less popular when connected with the party proposing them:

· When it was mentioned the 40p tax threshold was a Conservative policy, 59% supported it, compared with 63% when this was not mentioned.

· Support for Labour and the Liberal Democrats’ mansion tax policy was at 58% when connected with the parties, compared with 63% when they were not mentioned.

· Support for an increase in the top rate of tax to 50% was backed by 61% when Labour was not mentioned, but 59% when it was revealed it was a Labour policy.

· Support for increasing personal allowances to £12,500 per year was supported by 85% when the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were not mentioned and 84% when they were.

“All three main party leaders will be pleased that their conference season policies have been welcomed by the public. It is particularly good news for David Cameron and Nick Clegg, with their pledge on personal allowances the most popular of all - though the fact that the Liberal Democrats have taken credit for this parliament’s rise in personal allowances may be a cause for concern for the Prime Minister.

Technical note:
Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,002 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone 11^th – 14^th October 2014. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.

Source: https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3460/Personal-allowances-rise-the-most-popular-of-conference-season-tax-pledges.aspx

350-43-10. Energy Saving Trust Electrical Appliance Research

Published:16 October 2014

Fieldwork:26 September 2014

Ipsos MORI conducted a survey for the Energy Savings Trust in September 2014 on attitudes to electrical appliances in the home. Among the key findings:

· Half of households who have received an unexpectedly high energy bill check if unused appliances are switched off.

· 55% of households have games consoles; a quarter of over 55s have them.

· Nearly 40% leave consoles either on or in standby mode when not in use.

Technical Note

The research was conducted online by Ipsos MORI between 23 - 26 September 2014. The questions were asked of 2,418 Ipsos online panel members aged 16-75 across the United Kingdom. The data has been weighted to the national profile of the UK population.

Source: https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3461/Energy-Saving-Trust-Electrical-Appliance-Research.aspx

350-43-11. Voting UKIP no longer seen as a wasted vote, as the party reaches its highest ever vote share

Ipsos MORI Political Monitor - October 2014

Published:15 October 2014

Fieldwork:11 - 14 October 2014

October’s Ipsos MORI Political Monitor shows that, in the aftermath of Douglas Carswell’s by-election win for the party, more of the British public now disagree that voting UKIP in a general election is a wasted vote than agree. Just under half (48%) disagree that a general election vote for UKIP is a wasted vote, compared with 41% who agree. This is a turnaround from earlier this year – last month, prior to the Clacton by-election, 50% thought a UKIP vote was a vote wasted and 41% disagreed; in May, some 57% thought voting UKIP was a wasted vote and just 33% disagreed.

UKIP’s vote share this month is also the highest we have seen in Ipsos MORI’s polls. UKIP are now on 16% of the vote, up one point from last month. Labour lead the polls having been behind by a single point last month, but only by virtue of the Conservatives’ vote share falling – Labour are unchanged from last month on 33%, with the Conservatives on 30%. The Liberal Democrats are up one point on eight percent, while the Green Party are down one point on five percent.

The combined 63% of support for Labour and the Conservatives is historically low for the two largest parties in British politics. The last time we saw their share this low was in April 2010, when the Liberal Democrats were flying high at 32% following the televised election debates.

Economic Optimism is down this month, with 37% now thinking the general economic condition of the country will improve over the next year; 31% now think the economic condition will stay the same, while 25% think it will get worse, giving an Ipsos MORI Economic Optimism Index score (% improve minus % get worse) of +12. This is down from a score of +24 last month (when 45% thought it would improve, 21% that it would get worse) – and from an all-time high of +35 back in May (53% improve, 18% get worse).

Satisfaction ratings for the main party leaders and government have seen a decline for Ed Miliband and a rise for Nick Clegg, while Messrs Cameron and Farage have remained stable:

· Satisfaction in Ed Miliband’s performance as Labour leader is now at its lowest since September last year at 25%, down four points from 29% last month. Six in ten (59%) are dissatisfied, giving him a net rating (% satisfied minus % dissatisfied) of -34. More Labour supporters are now dissatisfied with their leader’s performance (46%) than are satisfied (42%).

· While remaining the leader with the lowest net rating, Nick Clegg is almost at level pegging with Mr Miliband. One in four (25%) are now satisfied with his performance as Deputy Prime Minister, while 62% are dissatisfied (down from 66%), giving him a net rating of -37.

· Satisfaction in David Cameron is at 38% (from 37% last month), with 55% dissatisfied (from 54% last month), giving him a net rating (% satisfied minus % dissatisfied) of -17.

· Satisfaction in Nigel Farage is at 39% (unchanged from last month), with 43% dissatisfied (from 44% last month), giving him a net rating of -4.

· Net satisfaction in the performance of the government is at -29, with 31% satisfied and 60% dissatisfied (from 36% satisfied and 56% dissatisfied last month).

Bobby Duffy, Managing Director at Ipsos MORI said:

“These results represent another breakthrough in public opinion for UKIP, particularly the big drop in the proportion who think a vote for them is wasted. The other main parties were counting on a continuing sense that there was no point voting for Nigel Farage’s party. It may not be a surprise that the public are no longer so sure, given the by-election results - but it is still hugely important to UKIP’s prospects in the General Election.”

Technical note:

Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,002 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone 11 – 14 October 2014. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.

Source: https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3459/Voting-UKIP-no-longer-seen-as-a-wasted-vote-as-the-party-reaches-its-highest-ever-vote-share.aspx

350-43-12. Slight cooling of house price expectations, buying sentiment falls

Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker: Q3 2014

Published:15 October 2014

Fieldwork:12 - 21 September 2014

HPO, the headline House Price Outlook balance – i.e. the proportion of people that expect the average house price to rise in the next 12 months less those who think it will fall – is +62 compared to +66 in July 2014 and +64 one year ago in September 2013 (itself a sharp rise on June 2013’s +40).

Meanwhile, 49% of the public consider the next 12 months a good time to buy, in line with last quarter (47%) but lower than one year ago (57% in September 2013). Over the same period (Q3 2013 – Q3 2014), there has been an increase of 6 percentage points in the proportion who think it will be a bad time to buy, now at 38%.

Other findings include:

· Buying sentiment is more negative in London and the South East where 55% and 38% respectively think the next 12 months will be a bad time to buy property

· But Londoners are also more positive about selling: 70% think the next 12 months will be a good time to sell, the highest for this measure among Londoners since the survey’s inception.

· Just over a third (35%) think it will be both a good time to buy and sell over the next 12 months, an increase of five percentage points since Q3 2014 when this figure stood at 30%.

· Being able to raise enough deposit continues to be the most commonly identified main barrier to property purchase (57% say this), while 47% cite job security as a barrier. But 39% select household finances (from a list), up eleven percentage points since last quarter.

· The majority of private renters, 68%, expect private rents to rise.

Technical note

Ipsos MORI interviewed 2,042 British adults aged 16+ face-to-face, between 12-21 September 2014. Data has been weighted to the known population profile.

Source: https://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3457/Slight-cooling-of-house-price-expectations-buying-sentiment-falls.aspx

350-43-13. Almost half of UK adults shy away from magazines

October 15, 2014

Almost half of the population do not buy or read magazines.

The most recent “Magazine Consumption report” shows that just over 4 in 10 adults currently do not read nor buy magazines (44%). From this group, more than half (55%) say they’ve never been regular readers of magazines, while 39% were once readers, but stopped. Given that women are more attuned than men to reading magazines, they are more likely to be lapsed consumers (46% compared with 33%); conversely, men are more likely to have never read them (59% compared with 50%).

Description: http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2014-10-15/magz3.png

The report has also found that under-25s are less likely than their elders to read or purchase magazines. Half of 16-24 year olds (50%) read or buy magazines compared to an average of 58% of over-25s. However, younger people are more likely than older readers to read magazine content on digital websites. Almost a quarter of 16-24 year olds (22%) say they read magazines on websites, followed by 13% of 25-39 year olds, 9% of 40-54 year olds and 6% of over 55s.

Description: http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2014-10-15/magz4.png

The majority of adults who neither read nor buy magazines attribute this to lack of attention-grabbing content (45%) and being able to find everything they need from TV or newspapers (30%). 22% of non-readers say they can’t afford to buy magazines. At 46%, affordability is the third important factor readers look for in a magazine, just before relevance (58%) and good up-to-date coverage (49%).

There is also an increase in the proportion of people who gave up reading magazines more than five years ago. 36% of ex-readers stopped reading magazines more than five years ago compared to a steady 28% - 29% from surveys undertaken between December 2013 and May 2014. Six in ten ex-readers (61%) say they stopped because it’s expensive, while nearly four in ten (36%) say they lost interest in their favourite magazines. More than a quarter of former readers (27%) say they gave up on magazines because they can now obtain the same information online.

James McCoy, Research Director at YouGov Reports, commented “Former readers have cited cost – or at least perceived affordability – as a key reason for giving up magazines. Clearly when pressures are on budgets, magazines are not seen as essential. While publishers may initially consider cutting prices to attract lapsed readers back to the fold, more success may be found in persuading ex-readers of the value that a magazine represents.”

Source: http://research.yougov.co.uk/news/2014/10/15/almost-half-uk-adults-shy-away-magazines/

NORTH AMERICA

350-43-14. More Women Than Men in U.S. Workforce Are Irked by Pay

This article is featured in "Women and the Workplace," a weeklong series exploring a variety of issues affecting modern working women.

PRINCETON, NJ -- When asked to rate 13 different aspects of their job and work environment, women employed full time in the U.S. differed most from their male counterparts in reaction to their pay. Twenty-eight percent of full-time working women are completely satisfied with their pay, compared with 34% of men.

Description: Satisfaction With 13 Workplace Factors Among Full-Time U.S. Workers by Gender

Men and women have nearly identical reactions to the other 12 aspects of work measured -- or at least the differences (up to four percentage points) are not statistically significant. This includes differences in satisfaction with their chances for promotion, the amount of on-the-job stress they have, and the flexibility of their work hours. Accordingly, the rank order of issues according to satisfaction is similar between the genders, with physical safety at the top for both, and stress and the amount of money earned at the bottom.

These finding are based on 2,076 full-time workers interviewed as part of Gallup's annual Work and Education poll between 2010 and 2014, including 1,281 men and 795 women.

According to the full range of responses, 71% of women versus 76% of men are completely or somewhat satisfied with their earnings, while 29% of women and 23% of men are completely or somewhat dissatisfied. Thus, whether the standard is "complete satisfaction" or the lower bar of "satisfaction," women still lag men.

Description: Satisfaction With Amount of Money Earned

These results closely mirror last year's finding from Gallup's 2013 Work and Education poll that among all workers -- including those employed full and part time -- women are about as satisfied as men with all of the job aspects evaluated in the survey, except for pay.

Further analysis of the five-year aggregate reveals no major gender differences in men's and women's satisfaction with earnings according to age (those 18-29 vs. 50 and older), or whether they work in the private sector or for government.

Bottom Line

Earlier this week Gallup reported that four in 10 Americans consider equal or fair pay to be the top issue facing working women today. That seems borne out in the lower satisfaction that working women have relative to men with their earnings. While the majority of both groups are at least somewhat satisfied with their earnings, neither gender is highly satisfied with what they earn, but women are even less so than men.

Survey Methods

Results for this analysis are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of U.S. workers, aged 18 and older, employed full time and living in the 50 U.S. states and District of Columbia. The data is based on combined interviews from Gallup's 2010 through 2014 annual Work and Education polls, conducted each August. This includes interviews with 1,281 men employed full time and 795 women employed full time.

For results based on the total sample of men employed full time, the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the total sample of women employed full time, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 50% cellphone respondents and 50% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.

Samples are weighted to correct for unequal selection probability, nonresponse, and double coverage of landline and cell users in the two sampling frames. They are also weighted to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, population density, and phone status (cellphone only/landline only/both, and cellphone mostly). Demographic weighting targets are based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population. Phone status targets are based on the most recent National Health Interview Survey. Population density targets are based on the most recent U.S. census. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed design effects for weighting.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/178604/women-men-workforce-irked-earnings.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

350-43-15. Americans Say Equal Pay Top Issue for Working Women

Equal opportunity for advancement is second

This article is featured in "Women and the Workplace," a weeklong series exploring a variety of issues affecting modern working women.

PRINCETON, NJ -- Nearly four in 10 Americans say equal pay is the top issue facing working women in the United States today, a sentiment shared by roughly the same proportions of men, women, and working women. About twice as many Americans mention equal pay as cite the second-ranked issue -- equal opportunity for advancement. No other issue is cited by more than 10% of Americans.

Description: What do you think are the most important issues facing working women in this country today? [OPEN-ENDED], September 2014

The results are based on an open-ended question asked in a Sept. 25-30 Gallup poll. There are almost as many working women as working men in the U.S. And many women today seek not only to have jobs but to establish their careers and advance in them. But working women continue to face challenges that differ from those of working men. As an example, last week, Microsoft's CEO sparked controversy when asked about one of the major challenges for working women -- pay equity -- when he suggested that women should not ask for raises but rely on the system to deliver fair pay to them.

Americans clearly see norms of fairness and equality -- in terms of pay and the opportunity to get ahead -- as the greatest challenges for working women. These surpass issues such as how women are treated in the workplace and balancing parenthood with work, but these more practical concerns certainly are not absent from the list of issues facing women. For example, 8% of Americans mention that respectful treatment of female employees, including sexual harassment, is an issue in the workplace. Another 7% mention access to childcare, and 6% mention balancing work and home life.

For the most part, men, women, and working women have similar ideas about the challenges facing working women. The greatest perceptual differences appear between men and working women with respect to the top-of-mind importance of childcare, work-home balance, and healthcare. Few men, no more than 3%, mention these as the most important challenges for working women. But 9% of working women mention healthcare, 10% mention balancing work and home life, and 12% mention childcare.

Men in general are also less likely than women and working women to cite any issue, as 20% of men do not have an opinion, compared with 12% of all women and 8% of working women.

While there are not wide differences by gender in perceptions of the key issues for working women, the views of political liberals and conservatives diverge. Liberals are nearly twice as likely as conservatives, 51% to 28%, to mention equal pay as the biggest challenge working women face. Despite this difference, it is still the most commonly mentioned issue for conservatives.

Description: View of Most Important Issues Facing Working Women in United States Today, by Political Ideology, September 2014

Liberals are also much more likely than conservatives to mention equal opportunity. In contrast, conservatives are more likely than liberals to mention the availability of jobs as the top issue for working women.

Conservatives are also much more likely than liberals not to offer a response -- 26% of conservatives do not have an opinion, compared with 8% of liberals.

Implications

Americans regard basic norms of fairness and equality -- specifically in terms of pay and opportunities to advance -- as the greatest issues facing working women today. Although there are almost as many working women as working men in the U.S. today, and women are increasingly rising to positions of prominence in business, they still as a group lag behind men in pay and in the percentage of upper management positions they hold.

In fact, equal pay for women has become a major issue this year. In addition to the controversy regarding the Microsoft CEO's comments, pay equity has also become a significant issue in this year's political campaigns. And it resonates with voters -- ranking among the most important issues in this year's elections. The prominence of the issue in this year's campaign may also explain why it is top-of-mind for Americans as the most important issue facing working women.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 25-30, 2014, with a random sample of 1,252 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

For results based on the total sample of 233 working women, the margin of sampling error is ±8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/178373/americans-say-equal-pay-top-issue-working-women.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

350-43-16. Americans Still Prefer a Male Boss to a Female Boss

Women are more likely than men to prefer a female boss

This article is featured in "Women and the Workplace," a weeklong series exploring a variety of issues affecting modern working women.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans are still more likely to say they would prefer a male boss (33%) to a female boss (20%) in a new job, although 46% say it doesn't make a difference to them. While women are more likely than men to say they would prefer a female boss, they are still more likely to say they would prefer a male boss overall.

Description: Americans Slightly More Likely to Prefer a Male Boss

These results are based on Gallup's annual work and education poll, conducted Aug. 7-10. In 1953, Gallup first asked Americans, "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?" At that time, 66% of Americans said they preferred a male boss. Five percent said they preferred a female boss, and 25% volunteered that it made no difference.

Women More Likely Than Men to Prefer a Female Boss

In an age when women are told to "lean in" to get positions of power at work, even women are more likely to prefer a male boss to a female boss. However, women have historically been more likely than men to prefer a female boss, although support for preferring a female boss has grown among both groups over time. In 2014, 25% of women say they would prefer a female boss, compared with 14% of men.

Description: Men and Women Differ in Their Preference for Boss' Gender

The percentage of women who would prefer a female boss has never surpassed 30%. Currently, both genders would prefer a male boss, with 26% of men and 39% of women saying they would prefer a male boss if they were to take a new job. Men are more likely than women to say they have no preference -- 58% mention this response, compared with 34% of women.

The survey indicates that 51% of working Americans currently have a male boss and 33% have a female boss. Those who have a female boss are more likely than those with a male boss to say they would prefer a female boss if they got a new job (27% vs. 15%, respectively).

Description: Boss Preference, by Gender of Current Boss

As Gallup has previously noted, younger Americans are slightly more likely than older Americans to prefer a female boss; however, preference for a male boss is consistent between the two groups. Republicans are more likely to prefer a male boss (42%) to a female boss (16%), while Democrats break even between the two -- 29% prefer male, while 25% prefer female.

Bottom Line

In June, Fortune reported that the number of female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies had reached a historic high, yet only 4.8% of this elite group are women. And while bestselling books like Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg push women to achieve their goals and focus on their careers, Americans' views about wanting female bosses haven't changed since Gallup began asking about them regularly in the 1980s. More Americans continue to prefer a male boss to a female boss -- although, since 2002, the greatest percentage continue to say it does not make a difference to them. While the percentage who prefer a female boss has grown over the last 60 years, it has never passed 25%.

Women, however, are more likely than men to prefer a female boss, even if more women overall still prefer a male boss. Furthermore, workers who currently have a female boss are more likely than those who have a male boss to prefer a female boss in the future. This could mean that as more women enter management, preference for female bosses could continue to rise.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Aug. 7-10, 2014, with a random sample of 1,032 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/178484/americans-prefer-male-boss-female-boss.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

350-43-17. Women's Well-Being Suffers More When Marriage Ends

Stress, substance use jump more for women who are divorced, separated

This article is featured in "Women and the Workplace," a weeklong series exploring a variety of issues affecting modern working women.

PRINCETON, NJ -- Married Americans tend to have higher well-being than nonmarried Americans, particularly those who are divorced or separated, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. Women typically have higher well-being than men across all marital statuses, including a notable 2.2-point gap in the overall Well-Being 5 score among those who are married. The significant exception is that there is essentially no gender difference in well-being among those who are separated, the group with the lowest well-being.

Description: U.S. Well-Being 5 Score and Marital Status, by Gender, 2014

These findings are based on 131,159 interviews with American adults, aged 18 and over, from Jan. 2-Sept. 25, 2014, conducted as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which organizes well-being into five elements: purpose, social, financial, community, and physical.

Daily Stress Jumps Among Those Who Are Separated

Gallup and Healthways measure daily reports of stress, which affects all five elements, as a component of overall well-being. Married Americans are far less likely than those who are not married to report that they felt stress "a lot of the day yesterday." Whereas 36.8% of married Americans say they felt stress the prior day, the percentage increases significantly for other marital statuses, and jumps to 51.0% among those who are separated.

Women are more likely than men to carry stress on any given day across all marital status groups, but there is a visibly pronounced stress gap by gender when one compares women who are separated to men who are separated. In this case, while both groups are significantly higher in daily stress than their married counterparts, the increase in stress among separated women compared with married women is about 55% greater than what is found among the same groups of men -- up 16.3 percentage points among women, compared with 10.5 points among men.

Description: U.S. Daily Stress and Marital Status, by Gender, 2014

Elevated Drug/Medication Use Linked to Divorce, Separation

Another factor in overall well-being is the self-reported use of drugs to relax. Roughly 17% of adults who are married, in domestic partnerships, or single say they use drugs or other medications (including prescription drugs) "almost every day" to aid in relaxation. That compares with a much higher three in 10 separated or divorced Americans who do the same.

Women are somewhat more likely than men across all marital groups to report using drugs or medicine to relax. However, the gender gaps are notably greater among divorced and separated Americans than among those who are married, single, or in a domestic partnership.

Description: U.S. Drug/Medication Use and Marital Status, by Gender, 2014

Implications

Marriage is associated with higher well-being for both men and women, particularly when compared with divorce or separation. Entering into a marriage can foster a sense of purpose through a shared perspective on life and a need to support another person. Similarly, marriage can expand a person's social connections and relationships, increase household wealth, and lead to a more permanent housing selection and a related connection to the community. In addition, multiple studies have confirmed that married adults have better health outcomes, likely attributable to reduced stress and having a partner to encourage healthy behaviors and to hold one accountable for choices affecting one's health.

The data suggest, however, that women's well-being may suffer more if the marriage ends. For example, typically, married men in the U.S. earn more than married women, and while this could be attributable to men's postponing marriage until they earn higher salaries, it results in women's seeing a significant household income bump after marriage. This particularly results from the disparity between men and women's average wages. Married women, therefore, may see more significant financial benefits from marriage than married men do, resulting in a boost to their financial well-being that may outpace what is found among men.

Married adults -- but particularly married women -- have far lower daily rates of stress and substance use than their divorced or separated counterparts. Though married men have somewhat lower rates overall, married women's stress levels compare quite favorably with those of women in other marital statuses. Reduced stress, coupled with a non-elevated use of drugs to relax found in divorced or separated settings, likely plays a significant role in married women's higher overall well-being.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index survey Jan. 2-Sept. 25, 2014, yielding a random sample of 131,159 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, selected using random-digit-dial sampling. Of this sample, 37,381, 5,983, and 1,146 interviews were with men who were married, divorced, and separated, respectively, while 31,101, 8,205, and 1,350 interviews were with women who were married, divorced, and separated, respectively.

For results based on the sample sizes noted below, married respondents for each gender will have a maximum expected error range of about ±0.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, while divorced respondents for each gender will have a margin of error of about ±1.3 percentage points and separated respondents for each gender will have a margin of error of about ±3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/178553/women-suffers-marriage-ends.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

350-43-18. U.S. Voters Give GOP Edge vs. Dems on Handling Top Issues

Prefer GOP on seven of 13 election issues; Democrats, on just four

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Republicans in Congress hold significant leads over the Democrats on four of the six issues that U.S. registered voters say are most important in determining how they will vote in November: the economy, the way the federal government is working, the situation with Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria, and the federal budget deficit. Democrats, by contrast, top their Republican rivals on just one of the six: "equal pay for women."

Description: 2014 Midterm Issues: Importance and Party Advantage

These results are from a Sept. 25-30 poll in which Gallup asked registered voters to rate the importance of 13 issues to their vote for Congress, and then to indicate which party would do a better job on each issue. The accompanying graph simultaneously displays the rankings of these issues on both dimensions. The higher an issue is, the greater the Republican Party's advantage. And the farther to the right an issue is, the more important it is to the electorate.

The 13 issues measured in the new poll include eight that appeared in a Gallup Poll conducted in April, before the midterm campaign season came into full bloom, plus five new ones. In total, six issues were rated above the average of 69%, in terms of the percentage of voters saying they are extremely or very important to their vote:

1. the economy (88%)

2. the availability of good jobs (86%)

3. the way the federal government is working (81%)

4. the situation with Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria (78%)

5. equal pay for women (75%) and

6. the federal budget deficit (73%)

On the No. 1 issue, the economy, Republicans have more than doubled their April lead over Democrats, to 11 percentage points.

Description: Trend: Party Advantage on the Economy Ahead of Midterms

Notably, as the GOP tries to gain control of the Senate, the current GOP advantage on the economy nearly matches the 12-point advantage the party held in August 2010, shortly before the midterm elections that gave the Republicans control of the House of Representatives.

The GOP's lead on the federal budget deficit has also widened, to 20 points from 14 points in April, and is now higher than at any other time during Barack Obama's presidency.

Republicans are also in a better position than Democrats on several new items included in the poll, including the way the federal government works and the situation in Iraq and Syria. Republicans hold a solid eight-point advantage on how the federal government functions, despite gripes from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that "Republican obstruction" is the source of federal dysfunction.

Voters also prefer the GOP by a commanding 19-point margin regarding Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria. The GOP has historically held an edge over Democrats on terrorism and national security, and they continue to lead in this arena, even as the Obama administration conducts airstrikes against Islamic militant targets in Iraq and Syria.

In terms of "the availability of good jobs," the two parties are essentially tied, with a one-point Republican lead.

Voters clearly favor Democrats only on securing equal pay for women among issues of above-average importance. Democrats have an outsized 38-point advantage -- the largest lead either party holds on any issue.

On the two issues that are of average importance to voters, "foreign affairs," and "taxes," voters give Republicans the nod.

Democrats Strong on Issues Voters Think Are Less Important

For the five issues rated below average in importance, voters largely view Democrats as the better party -- perhaps scant comfort to Democrats. At the same time, these issues are more important to self-identified Democrats than to other voters, meaning they are potentially good issues to help bring Democrats to the polls.

Description: Bottom Five Issues in Voting Importance and Party Advantage, September 2014

Democrats are the clear favorites to handle wealth and income distribution, abortion and access to contraception, and climate change; the party holds double-digit advantages on these issues. But only one of the three has more than half of voters assessing it as extremely or very important, and all three rank well below the top issues.

Bottom Line

Republicans lead Democrats on a number of issues of high importance to the electorate, including the economy, the situation in Iraq and Syria, and the federal budget deficit. Democrats are not without electoral strengths -- equal pay for women is an issue that voters judge as important, and that a wide swath think Democrats are most adept to handle. But as the two parties enter the final campaign stretch, the electoral environment increasingly appears to favor the GOP.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 25-30, 2014, with a random sample of 1,095 registered voters, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

For results based on the total sample of voters, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/178268/voters-give-gop-edge-handling-top-issues.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

350-43-19. U.S. Economic Confidence Index Rises to -10

Highest confidence seen so far in 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index rose to -10 for the week ending Oct. 12, up from -13 the week before. Last week's index reflects the highest score to date in 2014, and the highest weekly score since August 2013.

Description: Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index -- Weekly Averages Since January 2013

Last week marked the third consecutive week that the index increased. As a result, it has finally escaped the narrow -13 to -21 range it had stayed within all year prior to now. The recent run follows a short-lived dip in confidence to -18 in late September.

Although it is the best score this year, the current -10 is still below the -3 from early June 2013, the highest weekly score found since Gallup began tracking economic confidence daily in 2008. And it remains well below the hypothetical maximum of +100, reached if all Americans were to say the economy is excellent or good and getting better.

Gallup's Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components: Americans' views of current economic conditions and whether they think the economy will get better or will get worse. Both components saw increases last week, although the larger change was in Americans' economic outlook.

For the week ending Oct. 12, 22% of Americans said the economy was "excellent" or "good," while 30% said it was "poor." This results in a current conditions score of -8, up slightly from -9 the week prior, and the highest current conditions score found since the -6 in early February 2008, at the beginning of the Great Recession.

The economic outlook score also increased, to -11, from -16 the week before. This was the result of 42% of Americans saying the economy was getting better, compared with 53% who said it was getting worse. This is the highest weekly economic outlook score since late February.

Description: Economic Confidence Index Components -- Weekly Averages for 2014

Bottom Line

Despite a drop in stock market prices for the third week in a row, the U.S. Economic Confidence Index increased again last week, and has now reached a new high for 2014. This may reflect Americans' attention to other, more positive economic news -- particularly reports on the job market. The nation's unemployment rate is now approaching what it was before the recession, based on a September unemployment rate that was under 6%, according to the government. Gallup's Job Creation Index and Payroll to Population rate generally confirm a much better job market than has been the case in recent years.

Americans are more confident about the economy's direction now than they have been at any point since February, and their rating of current economic conditions has edged up to a high not seen since 2008.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Oct. 6-12, 2014, on the Gallup Daily tracking survey, with a random sample of 3,543 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±1 percentage point at the 95% confidence level.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/178385/economic-confidence-index-rises.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

350-43-20. Americans: My Member OK, Most in Congress Are Not

Dueling views helps explain why most incumbents are re-elected

PRINCETON, NJ -- In the U.S., the majority believes that most members of Congress are out of touch with average Americans, more focused on special interests than the needs of their constituents, and are corrupt. Americans are slightly more likely to say each of these things than they were in the past. At the same time, they are much less likely to say these descriptions fit their local member of Congress than to say they fit most members.

Description: Americans’ Views of Congress: Most Members and Your Member

Gallup first asked these questions in 1994, re-asked them twice in 2006, and then asked again this year in a survey conducted Sept. 25-30.

A substantial majority of Americans have said that most members of Congress are out of touch and beholden to special interests each time Gallup has asked the questions. This year marks the second time that half or more of Americans agree that most members of Congress are corrupt.

Taken together, these responses add to the list of findings underscoring Americans' lack of confidence in Congress as a body, including low overall approval ratings, low trust in the legislative branch of government, and a confidence rating for Congress at the bottom of the list of American institutions.

Americans' cynicism about their own member of Congress is slightly higher than in the past. For the first time, more Americans say their member is focused on the need of special interests than on the needs of his or her constituents.

Additionally, Americans are now equally divided on whether their own member is out of touch with average Americans, and the 27% who say their member is corrupt ties the percentage from 1994.

Americans Typically More Positive About Their Own Member of Congress

The fact that Americans are more negative about most members of Congress than they are about their local member reflects an established pattern in which Americans' assessments of many entities and situations becomes more positive the closer they are to home. These include healthcare, schools, and crime. This pattern helps explain a central paradox in American politics: Although the public is extremely negative about Congress as an institution and has little confidence in its ability to get things done, Americans still send the vast majority of members of Congress who seek re-election back to Washington.

This disjuncture between Americans' views of most members and their own member of Congress is underscored by the finding in the Sept. 25-30 survey that 54% of Americans say they approve of the job their local member is doing. Gallup's September job approval rating for Congress as a whole was 14%.

Despite Americans' relatively high approval rating for their own member of Congress, 63% of Americans say it is bad for the country that nearly all members of Congress seeking re-election are likely to win in November. In addition, 78% of Americans say it would change Congress for the better if the present members of Congress are replaced with new members after the November elections.

Description: Americans' Attitudes Toward Congressional Elections

In other words, while the majority of Americans approve of the job their member is doing, and thus would presumably vote for this person's re-election, an even greater percentage say it is a bad thing that most members of Congress will be re-elected.

Implications

Americans remain negative about most members of Congress, with majorities perceiving that members are out of touch with their local constituents and that they pay too much attention to special interests. A majority says that most members are corrupt.

Given that Congress consists of members elected from districts across the U.S., the only real action Americans can take to change the makeup of Congress is to vote against their incumbent. But Americans are much less likely to have harsh views of their own local member of Congress than they do of Congress as a whole. Even if Americans in some abstract way believe that their member is contributing to the partisan gridlock that frustrates Americans so much, they might approve of their member for the things he or she does to help the district, his or her party affiliation, or for being their official voice in Washington.

Furthermore, the majority of Americans might believe that their member is above average or the exception. Or, it could be that the average American perceives that systems and procedures in Washington need to be changed in fundamental ways that transcend the particular group of people who are elected to serve in Congress at any given time.

All in all, Americans' relatively positive attitudes about their local representatives, spread out across 435 congressional elections, help explain why so many members of Congress return to Washington year after year -- even while these same Americans so negatively assail the institution to which these members belong.

Survey Methods

For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/178487/americans-member-congress-not.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

350-43-21. In U.S., No Preference for Divided vs. One-Party Government

Thirty percent prefer one-party government, 28% divided government

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans lack consensus on whether it is better to have one party holding the presidency and the majority in Congress, or better to have control of each branch of government split between the two major political parties. Currently, 30% say it is better to have a one-party government, 28% say a divided government is better, and the highest percentage, 37%, say it makes no difference.

Description: Divided vs. One-Party Governement in U.S.

The results are based on Gallup's annual Governance poll, conducted Sept. 4-7. Since Gallup first asked the question in 2002, Americans have not shown a clear preference on the most desirable form of government. Most often, the highest percentage have said it "makes no difference." The highest percentage in favor of one-party government was 38% in 2012and the highest in favor of divided government was 36% in 2005.

Divided government has been the norm in U.S. politics for most of the last 45 years, with one party controlling both houses of Congress and the presidency for only 12 of those years -- 1977-1980, 1993-1994, 2003-2006 and 2009-2010, as well aspart of 2001.

As such, Americans may simply be used to divided government and do not see it as better or worse than the alternative. But Americans have also seemingly rejected one-party government in the midterm elections that took place in 1994, 2006, and 2010, when a single party controlled Congress and the presidency and the public was dissatisfied with the way things were going in the country. In those midterms, the president's party lost control of one or both houses of Congress in highly successful elections for the opposition party.

Partisans' Preferences Influenced by Party of President

To a large degree, Americans' opinions on the desirability of divided versus unified party government may not be based on a theoretical or normative preference, but on which form of government would give their favored party the most power. Since a Democrat is currently president, Americans may now equate one-party government with a Democratic one-party government. Consistent with this, Republicans currently say they favor divided government over unified government by 33% to 24%, and Democrats favor one-party government by an even larger 29-percentage-point margin, 47% to 18%.

Description: Divided vs. One-Party Governement in U.S., by political party

Underscoring that these preferences for divided versus unified government are influenced by which party is in the White House, Republicans have, on average, favored divided government during the Obama administration, but preferred one-party government when George W. Bush was president. Democrats, who favored divided government under Bush, now prefer one-party government with Barack Obama in office.

Description: 141016DivGovt_HP

Independents' preferences have been consistent -- in favor of divided rather than unified government -- regardless of the party of the president.

Implications

Party control of the political branches of the U.S. government has typically been divided over the last 45 years. This has included times when a Republican president had to work with a Democratic Congress and when a Democratic president had to work with a Republican Congress. There have also been times, including currently, when party control of the two houses of Congress was divided.

There are certainly arguments to be made in favor of either divided or one-party government. If one party controls the presidency and Congress, it will have a much easier time passing legislation on policy that addresses the major issues facing the country. That arrangement also gives voters clear lines of accountability if people are happy or unhappy with the direction of the government, as was evident in voters' decisions to change party control of Congress in the 1994, 2006, and 2010 midterm elections.

Of course, if one party controls the federal government it may pursue policies that certain segments of the public do not like, and it could be up to two years before voters have the opportunity to change the partisan make-up of the government.

Divided government may also be seen as a way to ensure moderation in government policy, rather than it moving too far in a liberal direction if Democrats are in full control or too far in a conservative direction if Republicans are control. And having divided party control of government may be seen as another way to have checks and balances on the power of the various government institutions, in addition to those the founding fathers laid out in the Constitution.

Regardless of Americans' preferences, the U.S. is virtually certain to have divided government after this year's midterm elections, with President Obama in office for two more years and Republicans widely expected to retain their majority in the House of Representatives and with a reasonable chance of winning the majority in the Senate.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 4-7, 2014, with a random sample of 1,017 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/178550/no-preference-divided-one-party-government.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

AUSTRALASIA

350-43-22. National fail to get post-election bounce but leaderless Labour Party crash to lowest ever support

However, support for the main opposition Labour Party has crashed to 22.5% (down 2.63% and the lowest support for Labour since the 1914 NZ Election as United Labour). Fellow opposition parties the Greens (17.5%, up 6.8% are at a new record high) while NZ First support is 7% (down 1.66%). The Greens need to work out why their support on Election Day was lower than all the major polls indicated.

For the parties outside Parliament the Conservative Party of NZ is 5% (up 1.03% a new record high level of support) while the Internet-Mana Party alliance is at 1% (down 0.42%) and support for Independent/ Others is 0.5% (down 0.35%).

If a National Election were held now the latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows that the result would be too close to call.

The latest NZ Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating is virtually unchanged at 137pts (down 1pt) with 61.5% (down 0.5%) saying NZ is ‘heading in the right direction’ compared to 24.5% (up 0.5%) that say NZ is ‘heading in the wrong direction’. The NZ Government Confidence Rating remains substantially higher than in Australia – Australian Government Confidence last week was at 99pts.

Gary Morgan, Executive Chairman, Roy Morgan Research, says:

“Prime Minister John Key led National to a convincing election victory a month ago with National increasing its seats in Parliament despite a slight drop in support compared to the record high 2011 New Zealand Election result under the MMP system.

“National (43.5%, down 3.54% since the NZ Election) has failed to gain any post-election boost in support although this is not unusual – National support has now fallen immediately after all three election victories. Coalition partners Act NZ and United Future both retained their seats while the Maori Party lost a seat meaning the Government once again controls 64 seats in the 121 seat Parliament.

“After crashing to its worst election result in 92 years – since the 1922 NZ Election, a now leaderless Labour Party has dropped to only 22.5% support (down 2.63% since the NZ Election) – the lowest level of support for Labour since it contested the 1914 NZ Election as ‘United Labour’. The next month promises more pain for Labour before the selection of a new Labour Leader on November 18. After David Cunliffe’s withdrawal from the race this week the leadership contest is now a four-way fight between Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson, interim leader David Parker, Hauraki-Waikato MP Nanaia Mahuta and List MP Andrew Little.”

Electors were asked: “If a New Zealand Election were held today which party would receive your party vote?” This latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention was conducted by telephone – both landline and mobile telephone, with a NZ wide cross-section of 927 electors from September 29 – October 12, 2014. Of all electors surveyed 2% (down 3%) didn’t name a party.

Margin of Error

The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. The following table gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. The figures are approximate and for general guidance only, and assume a simple random sample. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.

Sample Size	Percentage Estimate
Sample Size	40%-60%	25% or 75%	10% or 90%	5% or 95%
500	±4.5	±3.9	±2.7	±1.9
1,000	±3.2	±2.7	±1.9	±1.4
1,500	±2.6	±2.2	±1.5	±1.1
2,000	±2.2	±1.9	±1.3	±1.0

Source: http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5868-roy-morgan-new-zealand-voting-intention-october-16-2014-201410160358

MULTI-COUNTRY SURVEYS

350-43-23. Worldwide, More Men Than Women Have Full-Time Work

Women working full time for an employer breaches 50% in only two countries

This article is featured in "Women and the Workplace," a weeklong series exploring a variety of issues affecting modern working women.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In every region of the world, men continue to do better than women when it comes to having full-time work for an employer. In fact, the gender gaps in Gallup's global Payroll to Population (P2P) employment rate remained just as wide in 2013 as they were five years ago.

Description: Global Payroll to Population Employment Rate, 2009-2013

Globally, full-time employment has not grown since 2012, and remained mired at 26% in 2013. P2P employment rates have not changed for either group since 2012, with the rate stagnant at 34% for men and 18% for women.

Gallup's latest global P2P measurements are based on more than 136,000 interviews across 136 countries in 2013, in which adults were asked employment questions modeled on the International Labour Organization's standards. Gallup's P2P metric estimates the percentage of the adult population aged 15 and older -- not just those currently in the workforce -- who are employed full time for an employer for at least 30 hours per week. Gallup does not count adults who are self-employed, working part time, unemployed, or out of the workforce as payroll-employed in the P2P metric, and it is not seasonally adjusted.

Across all global regions, women's deficit in the good jobs market remains largest in South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where their P2P rates lag behind men's by more than 20 percentage points. But is important to note that women in these two regions are also the least likely in the world to be in the workforce. Roughly three in four women in each region are out of the workforce, many choosing not to participate for cultural or political reasons.

Description: REgional Payroll to Population Employment Rates, by Gender

Women's deficit in good jobs is smallest, at six points, in sub-Saharan Africa, but P2P rates are also among the lowest in the world for women and men in this region. P2P rates are highest for men and women in Northern America, the former Soviet Union, and the European Union, but gender gaps are still 10 points or larger even in these more developed regions.

Gender Parity in Sweden

Gallup's latest Global States of Mind report shows countries with the highest P2P rates tend to be some of the wealthiest -- or those with the highest GDP per capita. Other countries in which many people work for the government or government-owned entities also tend to top the list. The same types of countries tend to dominate the lists for men and women, however, the P2P rate for women is 50% or higher in only two countries, Sweden and Iceland, while the rate for men is 50% or higher in 11 countries.

Description: Countries With Highest P2P Rates for Men and Women

Sweden is the only country in the world to achieve gender parity in full-time employment, which likely reflects how the country has one of the highest employment rates for women in the world and consistently ranks among the top countries on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index.

Gender Gap Widest in the Workforce in the Middle East and North Africa

When it comes to just those who are in the workforce, women lag behind men most in full-time employment in MENA, but sizable gaps exist in Latin America, the European Union, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Full-time employment is more equal among men and women in Northern America and the former Soviet Union.

Description: Regional Full-Time Employment, by Gender

Majorities of women in most regions of the world, including those where they lag significantly behind men in full-time employment, are participating in the workforce. Women are least likely to be in the workforce in South Asia and MENA, with about one in four or fewer taking part.

Description: Regional Labor Force Participation, by Gender

The unemployment gap also continues to be worst in MENA, where women are nearly three times as likely to be unemployed. There are also smaller gender unemployment gaps in South Asia and Latin America. There is no gender difference -- or close to no difference -- in unemployment in most other regions of the world.

Description: Regional Unemployment, by Gender

Bottom Line

While the full-time jobs situation has not improved for men or women, the world's women are still half as likely as men to have a "good job." As the global economy continues to recover in 2014 and beyond, these gaps reinforce the need to examine women's contributions more closely, particularly in emerging markets where these gaps are quite wide. When women enter the workforce in large numbers, it is an indicator that a country has crossed an important developmental threshold, and more people participating in the economy fuels growth.

For complete data sets or custom research from the more than 150 countries Gallup continually surveys, please contact us.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with 137,387 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted in 2013 in 136 countries and areas. For results based on the total global sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is less than ±1 percentage point. For results based on the regional samples, the margin of error ranges from a low of less than ±1 percentage point in Europe to a high of ±2.2 percentage points in non-EU Europe. For results based on country-level samples, the margin of error ranges from a low of ±1.7 percentage points to a high of ±4.2 percentage points. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Source: http://www.gallup.com/poll/178637/worldwide-men-women-full-time-work.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

350-43-24. Publics Across the World See Religious and Ethnic Hatred as Global Threat

Europeans and Americans Focus on Inequality as Greatest Danger

October 16, 2014

Explore Global Opinions of the Greatest Dangers to the World

These are among the findings of a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted in 44 countries among 48,643 respondents from March 17 to June 5, 2014.

Greatest Danger to the World

Across the nations surveyed, opinions on which of the five dangers is the top threat to the world vary greatly by region and country, and in many places there is no clear consensus.

Increasing Concerns about Religious and Ethnic Hatred

Age and Ideological Differences

Generally, there is little variation by age in views about the top global danger.

2. The survey was administered before the Islamic State (“ISIS” or “ISIL”) took over large swathes of Iraq and Syria and posted prisoner executions online and before the Ebola outbreak in West Africa became a high-profile international story.

Source: http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/10/16/middle-easterners-see-religious-and-ethnic-hatred-as-top-global-threat/

CYBER WORLD

350-43-25. Offline and falling behind: Barriers to Internet adoption

More than 60 percent of the world’s population remains offline. Without removing crucial deterrents to Internet adoption, little will change—and more than 4 billion people may be left behind.

September 2014

In a little more than a generation, the Internet has grown from a nascent technology to a tool that is transforming how people, businesses, and governments communicate and engage. The Internet’s economic impact has been massive, making significant contributions to nations’ gross domestic product (GDP) and fueling new, innovative industries. It has also generated societal change by connecting individuals and communities, providing access to information and education, and promoting greater transparency.

However, not all countries have harnessed the Internet’s benefits to the same degree. In a new report, we examine the evolution of Internet adoption around the world, the factors that enable the development of a vibrant Internet ecosystem, and the barriers that are impeding more than 60 percent of the global population from getting online. Several findings emerged.

1. Over the past decade, the global online population grew to just over 2.7 billion people, driven by five trends.

Some 1.8 billion people have come online since 2004,¹ with this growth fueled by five trends: the expansion of mobile-network coverage and increasing mobile-Internet adoption, urbanization, shrinking device and data-plan prices, a growing middle class, and the increasing utility of the Internet.

2. At the current trajectory, an additional 500 million to 900 million people are forecast to join the online population by 2017.

However, these gains will still leave up to 4.2 billion people offline. The rate of growth of worldwide Internet users slowed from a three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.1 percent from 2005 to 2008 to 10.4 percent from 2009 to 2013.² Without a significant change in technology, in income growth or in the economics of access, or policies to spur Internet adoption, the rate of growth will continue to slow. The demographic profile and context of the offline population makes it unlikely that these individuals will come online solely as a result of the trends that have driven adoption over the past decade. Estimates from multiple sources suggest that 500 million to 900 million people will join the online ranks by 2017, expanding the online population to 3.2 billion to 3.6 billion users.³ By these projections, between 3.8 billion and 4.2 billion people—more than half of the forecasted global population—will remain offline in 2017.

3. About 75 percent of the offline population is concentrated in 20 countries and is disproportionately rural, low income, elderly, illiterate, and female.

We estimate that approximately 64 percent of these offline individuals live in rural areas, whereas 24 percent of today’s Internet users are considered rural. As much as 50 percent of offline individuals have an income below the average of their respective country’s poverty line and median income.⁴ Furthermore, we estimate that 18 percent of non-Internet users are seniors (aged 55 or older), while about 7 percent of the online population are in that age bracket. Approximately 28 percent of the offline population is illiterate, while we estimate that close to 100 percent of the online population can read and write. Lastly, we estimate that 52 percent of the offline population is female, while women make up 42 percent of the online population.

4. The offline population faces barriers to Internet adoption spanning four categories:

Incentives. Despite the increasing utility of the Internet in providing access to information, opportunities, and resources to improve quality of life, there remain large segments of the offline population that lack a compelling reason to go online. Barriers in this category include a lack of awareness of the Internet or use cases that create value for the offline user, a lack of relevant (that is, local or localized) content and services, and a lack of cultural or social acceptance. The root causes of these consumer barriers include the high costs that content and service providers face in developing and localizing relevant content and services and their associated business model constraints, low awareness or interest from brands and advertisers in reaching certain audiences, a lack of trusted logistics and payment systems (thereby limiting Internet use cases such as e-commerce and online banking), low ease of doing business in specific regions (thereby impeding development of local or localized content and services), and limited Internet freedom and information security.

Low incomes and affordability. In this area, the predominant barrier is the low income of individuals in the offline population. This barrier is exacerbated by the high costs associated with providing access to the Internet for these populations, which are disproportionately rural. The low incomes reflect the poor economic circumstances of large segments of the offline population, often including unemployment and the need for economic development, employment, and income growth opportunities in their regions. At the same time, there is often a lack of adjacent infrastructure (such as roads and electricity), thereby increasing the costs faced by network operators in extending coverage. Several other factors can contribute to high costs of service for device manufacturers and network operators, including taxes and fees, and, in the case of some countries, an unfavorable market structure.

User capability. This category includes barriers such as a lack of digital literacy (that is, unfamiliarity with or discomfort in using digital technologies to access and use information) and a lack of language literacy (that is, the inability to read and write). The root cause of such literacy barriers is often an underresourced education system.

Infrastructure. Barriers in this area include a lack of mobile Internet coverage or network access in addition to a lack of adjacent infrastructure such as grid electricity. The root causes of these consumer barriers include limited access to international bandwidth; an underdeveloped national core network, backhaul, and access infrastructure; limited spectrum availability; a national information and communications technology (ICT) strategy that doesn’t effectively address the issue of broadband access; and underresourced infrastructure development.

5. These issues cannot be considered in isolation—we found a systematically positive and, in some cases large, correlation between barrier categories and with Internet penetration rates.

We measured the performance of 25 countries against a basket of metrics relating to each category of barriers to develop the Internet Barriers Index.⁵ We found that all factors correlate strongly and separately with Internet penetration, and all regressions indicate an elastic effect on Internet penetration—that is, improvements on each individual pillar of the Internet Barriers Index will have a disproportionately positive impact on Internet penetration. In addition, we found a systematically positive and, in some cases, large correlation between barrier categories. This implies that the factors are not totally independent and that countries with low Internet penetration tend to have multidimensional bottlenecks when it comes to increasing their Internet adoption. Further, it means that meaningfully addressing these barriers and boosting Internet penetration will require coordination across Internet ecosystem participants.

6. Approximately 2 billion people—or nearly half the offline population—reside in ten countries that face significant challenges across all four barrier categories. An additional 1.1 billion people live in countries in which a single barrier category dominates.

Based on the combination and severity of the barriers they face (as indicated by the Internet Barriers Index), countries fall into one of five groups. These groupings provide insight into each set’s common challenges, which could stem from similar root causes.

Group one: High barriers across the board. This group consists of five countries in Africa and Asia—Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Tanzania—that are home to just over 550 million offline individuals and face entrenched obstacles to expanding Internet adoption. Each of the countries in this group performed poorly across all four barrier categories of the Internet Barriers Index; their scores in individual pillars fall primarily in the lowest quartile. The offline populations in these countries are predominantly young and rural and have low literacy rates. The aggregate Internet penetration rate across the group was 15 percent in 2013.

Group two: Medium to high barriers. Countries in this group include Egypt, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, each of which faces medium to high barriers to Internet adoption. The countries in this group rank in the lowest two quartiles in several categories in the Internet Barriers Index, with their greatest challenges lying in the incentives and infrastructure barrier categories. Home to an offline population of more than 1.4 billion individuals, this group had an aggregate Internet penetration rate of 19 percent in 2013.

Group three: Medium barriers, greatest challenges in incentives. Comprised of China, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, this group is home to approximately 800 million offline individuals. The offline population in each country is largely rural and literate. With the exception of the incentives category, where both China and Vietnam scored in the bottom quartile, the countries in this group rank in the middle (second or third) quartiles across each pillar of the Internet Barriers Index. In aggregate, this group has an Internet penetration rate of 45 percent.

Group four: Medium barriers, greatest challenges in low incomes and affordability. This group consists of Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey and accounts for an offline population of just under 260 million individuals. With an aggregate Internet penetration rate of 49 percent, these countries are characterized by offline populations that are predominantly urban, literate, and low income. All of the countries in this group score in the middle (second or third) quartiles in the user capability and infrastructure categories of the Internet Barriers Index, and a couple countries rank in the first quartile in the incentives category. However, in contrast with those bright spots, low incomes and affordability remains a significant challenge; each of the countries in this group faces some combination of low GDP per capita, large proportions of their population with low incomes, and a high poverty rate.

Group five: Low barriers across the board. This group is composed of countries that face relatively low barriers compared with the other four groups, resulting in an aggregate Internet penetration rate of 79 percent. Countries in this group include Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United States. Despite the low barriers, these six countries are still home to aggregate offline population of approximately 180 million people. Interestingly, given the high Internet penetration rates in this group, the offline populations are disproportionately low income and female.

7. Current initiatives, forthcoming innovations, and lessons from countries that have made headway are cause for optimism.

Nations around the world have recognized the transformational impact of bringing more of their population online and are moving aggressively on several fronts to do just that. Governments are setting ambitious goals for mobile-Internet coverage and investing to extend fixed-broadband infrastructure and increase public Wi-Fi access. At the same time, network operators and device manufacturers are exploring ways to further reduce the cost of access and provide service to underserved populations. In addition, content and service providers are innovating on services that could improve the economic prospects and quality of life of Internet users.

Going forward, sustained, inclusive Internet user growth will require a multipronged strategy—one that will depend on close collaboration among players across the ecosystem, including governments, policy makers, nongovernmental organizations, network operators, device manufacturers, content and service providers, and brands.

Source: http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/offline_and_falling_behind_barriers_to_internet_adoption

350-43-26. Smart Watches Face Challenges As Payment System

October 13, 2014

Nuremberg, 13 October 2014 – A recent GfK survey in China, Germany, South Korea, the UK and the US indicates that people in these countries see potential in using smartwatches to ‘carry’ tickets for passenger transport or as security keys to their computers and online accounts. The ability to transmit healthcare data via a smartwatch is also of particular interest to the majority of people. In America and China, there is openness for using smartwatches as identity cards and payment systems, although Europeans are much more hesitant about these functions.

These are findings from an international study in which GfK asked 1,000 smartphone owners in each market if they would be interested in being able to carry out specific functions via a smartwatch, assuming they could save and send their data securely.

The survey reveals that smartwatches have the potential for a wide range of uses. Gathering sports activities, navigation, phone calls and apps are the main applications that surveyed consumers are interested in at present. Due to the nature of a smartwatch being worn on the wrist, it could also serve as proof of identity, a travel ticket holder or a method of making payments at the checkout.

Smartwatches could carry healthcare data

Nearly half of everyone surveyed across the five countries say they would be interested in using a smartwatch to provide doctors or hospitals with their personal healthcare data – for example, during a doctor’s appointment or in a medical emergency situation. However, people in different countries differ widely in how far they are ready to entrust sensitive health information to a smartwatch; 69 percent of those surveyed in China said they are interested in this compared with just 50 percent in the US and 43 percent in South Korea. European consumers are more hesitant, with around one third of respondents in the UK expressing an interest and just one quarter in Germany. Men are rather more open to this idea than women and the difference between age groups is even more marked, with interest in using a smartwatch for their health data increasing with age.

Asians and Americans see potential for smartwatches as travel tickets

GfK’s findings also show that smartwatches have clear potential as travel tickets. Just less than half those surveyed across all five countries say they would be happy to use a smartwatch for this purpose. The Chinese (63 percent), Koreans (54 percent) and US citizens (41 percent) were the most interested. European consumers were again more reticent with only 32 percent of respondents in the UK and 31 percent in Germany saying they would use a smartwatch as a travel ticket.

Older generations open to using smartwatches for online identification

Faced with rising cybercrime levels, there is a general desire for ways to improve security and this is reflected in GfK’s findings. Overall, 45 percent of respondents say they would be interested in using a smartwatch as secure identification to log on to personal computers or access online accounts. Interest in this function increases with age, starting at 42 percent of those aged 16-29, and rising to 46 percent of 30-49 year-olds and 48 percent of the over-50s. On a country by country basis, China shows most interest in this function, with over two thirds (68 percent) saying they would be happy to use a smartwatch as secure identification on their computers. They are followed by the US with just under a half (49 percent), South Korea with 37 percent and the UK with 33 percent. Germany again shows more hesitation, with just one quarter of all Germans surveyed saying they would be happy to use a smartwatch as secure identification on their computers.

Chinese happy to use smartwatches as identity cards

Across all five countries, 38 percent of those asked say they would be interested in using a smartwatch as an ID card when going abroad or visiting the authorities. Once again, China and the US are out in front in being open to this idea, with 57 and 41 percent respectively, followed by South Korea and the UK, with 33 and 28 percent. The Germans are again the most critical; just one fifth say would use a smartwatch as an ID card.

Paying by smartwatch? Only the US and China are interested to date

Mobile payment, i.e. using a smartphone to pay at the checkout with near field communication (NFC) technology, hasn't proved very popular so far. In theory, using a smartwatch at the checkout would be even more convenient than getting out a smartphone; but only 35 percent of respondents across the five countries surveyed are interested in this facility at present. The real potential for this is in China, where interest increases to 54 percent of those surveyed, compared with 40 percent in the US and only 28 percent in South Korea and 27 percent in the UK. In Germany, just 20 percent of those asked say they would use a smartwatch to make payments.

Infographic on Smartwatches

Description: http://www.gfk.com/PublishingImages/Press/Web-Preview-GfK-Infographic-Smartwatches_English-Oct2014.jpg [To download the infographic on smartwatches in high-resolution please click here]

About this study

The data was collected in a study of smartphone owners in China, Germany, South Korea, the UK and the US which was conducted in August 2014. In each country, 1,000 respondents were surveyed online.

The complete study “Wearables: geek chic or the latest “must have” consumer tech?” can be downloaded here.

Planned GfK baseline survey on smartwatches

GfK is planning to conduct a broad baseline survey which will help smartwatch providers to develop successful business strategies. The research will be carried out on the basis of a multi-client approach in which any interested companies can participate. This will ensure maximum efficiency and economic benefits. The survey insights will support the optimization of resources, for example in product development and communications, in this way significantly increasing the return on investment.

Source: http://www.gfk.com/news-and-events/press-room/press-releases/pages/smartwatches-face-challenges-as-payment-system.aspx