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« Sen. Kennedy has surgery on blocked artery in neck | Today | Rhode Island woman wins $1 million in Mass. lottery » October 12, 2007Poll: Most Providence residents favor 'living wage'PROVIDENCE -- Seventy percent of Providence residents favor a “living wage” where companies getting contracts from the city pay workers at least $12.30 per hour plus $1.25 an hour for health care benefits, says a Brown University poll out today. The poll, done Sept. 29 and 30 by the university's Taubman Center for Public Policy, used a citywide random sample of 491 Providence residents and had a margin of error of about plus or minus 5 percentage points. The survey coincides with the eighth annual Thomas J. Anton/Frederick Lippitt Urban Affairs Conference on “The Living Wage” slated for Tuesday. A panel of national experts at the conference will look at economic and political aspects of the living wage and other anti-poverty initiatives, the university said in a news release. Speakers will include Paul Sonn of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation, and Oren Levin-Waldman of the Metropolitan College of New York. The conference starts at 4 p.m. in Leung Gallery in Faunce House on the college green. The poll found 90 percent of residents believed the national minimum wage should be raised from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour. Sixty-nine percent thought government should boost cash assistance for poor people. Eighty-three percent believed the government should expand subsidized daycare for poor people. Eighty-two percent thought able-bodied recipients on public assistance should be made to work as a condition of the aid. Thirty-four percent believed there should be a lifetime limit of five years on federal benefits for poor people. Below are several of the poll questions and the response results. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney Do you believe the national minimum wage should be increased from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour? 90 percent yes, 6 percent no, 4 percent don’t know or no answer Do you support a so-called “living wage” in which companies receiving contracts from the city pay their workers at least $12.30 an hour plus $1.25 an hour for health care benefits? 70 percent support, 15 percent oppose, 15 percent don’t know or no answer Do you think the government should increase cash assistance for people who are poor? 69 percent yes, 18 percent no, 13 percent don’t know or no answer Do you believe the government should expand subsidized daycare for people who are poor? 83 percent yes, 11 percent no, 6 percent don’t know or no answer Do you think able-bodied recipients on public assistance should be required to work as a condition of the aid? 82 percent yes, 9 percent no, 9 percent don’t know or no answer Do you believe there should be a lifetime limit of five years on federal benefits for poor people? 34 percent yes, 50 percent no, 16 percent don’t know or no answer In your view, are most people who receive public assistance genuinely in need of help or are they taking advantage of the system? 52 percent genuinely need help, 28 percent taking advantage of system, 20 percent don’t know or no answer. Do you think that most poor people could get along without public assistance if they tried? 28 percent yes, 59 percent no, 13 percent don’t know or no answer. Do you think that most poor people are lazy? 15 percent yes, 77 percent no, 8 percent don’t know or no answer. How big a problem is poverty in our society today? 74 percent a big problem, 19 percent somewhat of a problem, 3 percent not much of a problem, 4 percent don’t know or no answer. Would you say that you and your family living there are: 31 percent better off, 38 percent the same, 28 percent worse off financially than you were a year ago, 3 percent don’t know or no answer.
Posted by Mike McKinney CommentsSD | October 12, 2007 12:43 PM link I had worked to support my 2 children on my own I graduated from High school but when I lost my job ..I did have to rely on welfare to get back on my feet...and now I work making 40,000 a year so It all depends..yes there are people who take and take from the state but there are those who need a second chance or who want an opportunity NR | October 12, 2007 3:20 PM link Why are we killing our middle class (me included)? You knock yourself out when you're young to get good grades and skills, and if you're lucky, like I was, you go to college. The point is, you get an education, you become skilled, and then you get a job that pays well. Of course, there's the other side of this coin where people don't bother learning skills, some don't even bother finishing highschool! Then you get a job that requires no skills, join a union, and get your pension for free and free health care. And what does it add up to? More than I make, sans the pension and health care which I have to pay into myself. If this is the way it's going to be, then I'm the fool for knocking myself out all these years and taking responsibility for my own life. Why should I? And then on top of all that, get slapped in the face because I have to pay taxes in order for the unskilled, uneducated "freeloaders" to get extra benefits! This state sucks. Ginja | October 12, 2007 4:49 PM link Capitalism: the unequal distribution of happiness. Communism: the equal distribution of misery.
B | October 12, 2007 5:28 PM link As an actual Providence resident (not sure if any of the other commenters are) I see my taxes as an investment in my community. I want to make sure the money I'm paying in taxes goes to the people doing the work here, not to line the pockets of out-of-town or out-of-state contractors. If big developers want tax breaks and staffing agencies want fat contracts, then as a taxpayer I want something in return. I want good jobs for my community and I want my money to stay as local as possible so it can help our local economy. That's what a living wage law is about. Those who have some sour-grapes bellyaching about how unfair it is that some working folks who you see as "beneath" you might get paid better for their hard work need to just grow up and realize that when our tax dollars are reinvested in our community rather than siphoned off into the hands of a few contractors and investors, we all benefit. David Grenier | October 18, 2007 9:48 AM link Post a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006
Wow..who did they survey? a whole bunch of poor people? Minimum wage should not be increased. People should try to find better skills to get a better paying job.The government has done enough for the poor. I'm sick of contributing my tax dollars to people who can't afford crap..including daycare expenses..I believe poor people can get along without pubic assistance..but to them, public assistance is paradise and nobody forces them to get off of it..People who receive public assistance don't really need them..They take advantage of it..How about polling people outside of the projects to get a more accurate feel of how people really feel about it?