7/1: Dining In
July 1, 2009 by The Marist Poll
Filed under Featured, Food, Food Pantry, Living '09
Seventy percent of Americans choose to eat dinner at home at least six nights during an average week. And, when they do eat in, nearly all Americans, regardless of age, income, or region choose to cook rather than pull out the take-out menu.
©istockphoto.com/Demid
Men more than women eat out at least two nights a week with one-third of men reporting that they eat at home 5 nights weekly or fewer. This compares with 28% of women. The take-out menu drawer gets slightly more action with men; 4% acknowledge that they order in more often than cooking.
Maybe, it’s the chilly nights or just good home-cooking, but just over half — 51% — of those in the Northeast eat at home every night of the week.
Table: How Many Times Do You Eat Dinner At Home?
Related Stories:
7/1: An Experiment of Gastronomical Proportions
7/1: Featured Recipe: Megg McKMuffin
Related Links & Recipes:
Domestic Travel On a Budget: Eating Inexpensively on Vacation from Budget Travel
The New York Times’s Favorite Inexpensive Restaurants
Learn How to Save Money in the Kitchen
Recipes for Less Than $3 Per Serving from Eating Well
Cheap Dinners: Meal Ideas and Recipes from Good Housekeeping
Eating on the Cheap: Budget-Friendly Meals for College Students
7/1: An Experiment of Gastronomical Proportions
July 1, 2009 by The Marist Poll
Filed under Featured, Food, Food Pantry, Living '09
Many Americans are mixing things up in the kitchen. More than three-quarters — 77% — report that they’ve tried a new recipe in the past year. Women tend to be more adventurous in their culinary experimentation than men. 85% of women compared with 68% of men say they’ve cooked up a new dish.
©istockphoto.com/Fertnig
If It Ain’t Broke…
When it comes to creative cookery, Americans hesitate to mess around with dessert. 88% of those who tried a new recipe in the last year flexed their culinary muscle when creating a meal, while only 12% experimented with dessert.
Related Stories:
7/1: Featured Recipe: Megg McKMuffin
Related Links & Recipes:
Quiche Recipes from the Food Network
Vegan Crepes from VegCooking Blog
Quick Dinner Recipes from AllRecipes.com
Quick and Easy Vegetarian Recipes from AllRecipes.com
4/22: Nearly 1 in 4 Anticipate Job Loss
April 22, 2009 by The Marist Poll
Filed under Featured, Money, State of the Economy
Nearly 1 in 4 employed Americans — 22% — believe it’s likely they will join the ranks of the unemployed or have their hours cut this year. Among those who are most fearful are women. 26% of women in the workforce believe there is a good chance they will be laid off while 19% of men think it’s likely they will get a pink slip this year.
©istockphoto.com/RBFried
Where Americans work makes a difference. Employees in the Northeast are least concerned about their future employment status. Just 10% of those residents think it’s either very likely or likely that they will lose their job this year while 27% of those in the Midwest, 25% in the West, and 24% in the South share this concern.
Table: Are you likely to lose your job?
How Long Will It Take to Find a New Job?
Should they lose their job this year, many employed Americans think it will take some time before they will be back to work. Only 38% of workers think they would be able to find a comparable job with similar pay within three months of losing their current job.
Not surprisingly, older co-workers nationwide are less optimistic about their job prospects than are their younger colleagues. Only, three in ten workers 45 and older believe they would find a new position within three months compared with 45% of those younger than 45. One-third of workers 45 and older believe it would take at least a year to find a comparable position should they lose their current job.
Table: How long will it take to find a new job?
Related Links:
How To Find a Job During a Recession
4/15: Future of the Economy
April 15, 2009 by The Marist Poll
Filed under Featured, Money, Money Vault, State of the Economy
More Americans Optimistic About Nation’s Course
For the first time this year, more Americans — 49% — see the country moving in the right direction compared with 40% who think things are heading the wrong way. This includes a majority of registered voters — 52% — who feel the country’s course is back on track.
©istockphoto.com/MCCAIG
But, that’s most of the good news. For starters the partisan divide is wide. Although 80% of Democrats are pleased with the country’s trajectory, only 20% of Republicans share this view. Instead, 63% of GOP’ers believe things are moving in the wrong direction. Independents, as a group, are more torn than are the party faithful. A slim majority — 51% — describes the country as moving in a positive direction, and 41% see it going the wrong way.
Table: Is the Country Headed in the Right Direction?
Comparison Table of Other National Polls
Economy Leveled Off?
Even though 47% of Americans believe the economy has reached an equilibrium getting neither better nor worse, more than one-third feels things haven’t bottomed out yet. Only 18% feel the economy has turned the corner and is on an upswing. Most people — 78% — believe we are in for a long haul and don’t expect the economic picture to turn around for at least a year.
Table: The Economy: Better, Worse, or Staying the Same?
Table: How Long will the Economic Crisis Last?
Personal Economic Outlook
Americans are barely more optimistic about their own prospects. Half believe their personal finances will stay steady in the coming year. The rest divide. 28% see their economic future getting better, and 22% anticipate their finances will be worse in a year’s time. People under 45 are more hopeful than are their older counterparts. 39% of adults under 45 believe their finances will improve in the coming year while only 20% of people 45 years of age or older think things will be better for themselves.
Table: Your personal finances — Better, Worse or the Same?
Jobs Most Important
There is one thing most Americans do agree upon — unemployment is the most important economic concern for the U.S. economy. 59% of Americans, including nearly two-thirds of those with an annual family income of less than $50,000, point to jobs as the most pressing issue facing the economy. 75% say they personally know someone who has lost their job in the past six months.
Table: Most Important Concern for the U.S. Economy
Table: Do you know someone who has lost their job in the last six months?
Related Stories:
Americans Cutting Spending In Time of Economic Crisis
Lending Money — All in the Family?
Additional Economic Links:
Watch Lee Miringoff break down Americans’ views on the economy during his appearance on FoxBusiness:
State Polls
March 31, 2009 by The Marist Poll
Filed under Uncategorized
The polling community is one that crisscrosses the country. If there are any additional polls you’ve heard of, please, let us know!
Elon University
http://www.elon.edu/e-web/elonpoll/
The Field Poll
http://www.field.com/fieldpoll/
Market Shares
http://marketsharescorp.com/
Monmouth University
http://www.monmouth.edu/polling/
Public Mind
http://publicmind.fdu.edu/index.html
Public Policy Polling
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pppmain.asp?@spdT=B6B42829136845A69B19
Quinnipiac University Poll
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml
Suffolk University Poll
http://www.suffolk.edu/research/1450.html
Siena College Poll
http://www.siena.edu/level2bcol.aspx?menu_id=562&id=15577&linkidentifier=id&itemid=15577
Feasting for Less
March 30, 2009 by The Marist Poll
Filed under Food, Food Pantry, Living '09
These tough economic times require cost-conscious measures, but when it comes to the dinner table, a majority of Americans try not to end up being penny-wise and pound foolish. In a March 2009 Marist Poll, 54% of Americans tell us they look for healthy alternatives in their everyday dinner recipes. 26% say their top recipe priority is its affordability, followed by 13% who want it to be fast, and 7% who need it to be kid-friendly.
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However, money does matter. Households with a family income of less than $50,000 divide: 45% look for a recipe that is healthy but 40% say their top priority is affordability. This compares with 60% of families with an income of $100,000 or more who weigh healthy options highest.
And, as we age, concern with cost and speed declines and the value of healthy choices in the recipes we choose increases.
Related Links:
Nutrition Data: Know What You Eathttp://www.nutritiondata.com/
http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/recipes
Dietary Guidelines for Americanshttp://www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines/
Healthy and affordable: Recipeshttp://healthyrecipes.oregonstate.edu
Healthy and affordable: Money saving tipshttp://healthyrecipes.oregonstate.edu/stretching-food-dollars
Healthy dinner ideas from the Food Networkhttp://www.foodnetwork.com/ellies-healthy-dinner-ideas/video/index.html
