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2009 Struggling to Make Ends Meet: National Poll

Plus Highlights for MN, IA, ND, SD, MT, ID, OR and WA

This poll offers a snapshot of how 4,000 Americans see the struggle to make ends meet within their homes and communities. It also gives a picture for each of the states within the Foundation’s service area: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Regionally and nationally, respondents tell of job losses, actions taken, and what they believe their government should do to help those in greatest need. They also affirm belief in working for the common good.  

We hope this information will be of value as you – community members, policymakers, civic and business leaders, service providers and advocates – strive to help families, and particularly low-income households and groups, move from deep struggle to sustainable prosperity.

National Highlights:

• 61% say they’ve cut back on spending
• 27% say they or family member lost job in previous 12 months
• 27% report trouble paying for basic needs
• 49% say they don’t know where to go for help
• 56% have lent money to family or friend
• 68% say it takes at least $40,000 a year to support a family of four
• 51% say government is doing too little to help
• 94% say local elected officials have big responsibility to attract good paying jobs
• 51% say they would benefit personally if the number of people struggling to get by would be reduced

For state-by-state findings <<MORE
For state-by-state news releases <<MORE
Podcast reactions to 2009 poll <<MORE

Toolkit for Action

This Toolkit will help you take your story to community members, policymakers and reporters.  There’s a Toolkit for the national results and one for each of the eight states in the Foundation’s region.  >>MORE

Each Toolkit for Action contains:

• Survey brief
• Toplines
• Tips for communicating with policymakers and news reporters
• Researcher's report
• Charts for easy print out
• Elevator talks on key issues - jobs, health care, housing, education, actions taken and about government's role.

The Toolbox

Access all data, charts and findings in easy-to-use formats:  >>MORE

Briefs – six-page summaries of key findings: Sharp bullets, charts and graphs.
Charts – for national findings for each of eight states: MN, IA, ND, SD, MT, ID, WA and OR
Researcher’s Report – Summary by Lake Research Partners, Washington, D.C.
Toplines – Answers to each question, including breakdown of responses to multiple-choices options.
Crosstabs – Table of responses by demographic categories such as gender, age, education, income, location, etc.
Full database – Database file (.SAV) of the entire results.
2006, 2007 and 2008 surveys – PDF’s