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Data & Research March 15, 2011
Survey Reveals Public Sector Pension Envy
Many Americans believe that those who work for the government get
better retirement benefits than those in the private sector, a recent
survey shows.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found 71% of
likely voters in the United States said they feel government employees
get better pensions than private-sector workers. Only 14% disagree,
while 15% say they are not sure.
Sevent-eight percent of
those surveyed say they have followed recent news stories about pension
plans provided for government employees, with 50% saying they are
following very closely.
Nearly a third (32%) indicated they feel it is at least
somewhat likely their state would be able to afford all the pension
benefits it promised to state workers, while 56% said it isn’t likely
their state would be able to fulfill the promise. Those figures include
the 8% who say it is very likely and the 16% who say it is not at all
likely.
In addition, most respondents indicated they believe
government workers have more job security than those in the private
sector and government employees don’t work as hard as private sector
workers, the survey showed.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted March 2-3.