October 5, 2009 | |||
NEWS RELEASES FROM IANR NEWS SERVICE, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKARural Nebraskans More Pessimistic, but Still Optimistic on Future |
Lubben added, "There's just a little bit less rose color on the glasses." As in past polls, respondents with lower education levels are more likely than those with more education to feel they are powerless to control their own lives. Forty-two percent of those with high school diploma or less education believe that, while only 22 percent of respondents with a four-year college degree share that opinion. Also, 38 percent of those who are divorced or separated believe they're powerless to control their own lives, while only 29 percent of married respondents agree. "It's our annual 'stay in school' message," said Randy Cantrell, a rural sociologist with the Nebraska Rural Initiative. "It's not just about making money. You'll also be happier. You will have a greater sense of power in your own life." The Rural Poll is the largest annual poll of rural Nebraskans' perceptions on quality of life and policy issues. This year's response rate was about 44 percent. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent. Complete results are available online at Nebraska Rural Poll. |
The university's Center for Applied Rural Innovation conducts the poll in cooperation with the Nebraska Rural Initiative with funding from UNL Extension and the Agricultural Research Division in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Contacts: Center for Applied Rural Innovation Nebraska Rural Poll Project Manager (402) 329-4821 Brad D. Lubben - Ph.D. Agricultural Economics Assistant Professor (402) 472-2235 Bruce Johnson - Ph.D. Agricultural Economics Professor (402) 472-1794 Randy Cantrell - Ph.D. Center for Applied Rural Innovation Professor (402) 472-0919 Dan Moser IANR News & Photography Coordinator (402) 472-3007 Department: Center for Applied Rural Innovation | |
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LINCOLN, Neb. — Rural Nebraskans are much more pessimistic about their well-being than they were a year ago, but remain generally positive about the future, according to the 2009 Nebraska Rural Poll. The 14th annual University of Nebraska-Lincoln poll, taken last March and April, clearly reflects concerns about the economic downturn, poll organizers said. Only 43 percent of respondents said they believed they were better off than they were five years ago – down from an all-time high of 53 percent a year ago. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they believed they were worse off than five years ago, up from 19 percent a year ago – and tying with 2003's poll for the highest percentage of dissatisfaction in the poll's history. Rural Poll surveys were mailed to about 6,400 randomly selected households in Nebraska's 84 non-metropolitan counties. Results are based on 2,852 responses. Despite the current concerns, the poll found respondents fairly optimistic about their future. Forty-four percent said they expect to be better off 10 years from now; that's similar to past years' findings. Twenty percent expect to be worse off in a decade. |
"There a resilience, a prevailing sense of hope and optimism that's pretty hard to knock down," said UNL agricultural economist Bruce Johnson, part of the Rural Poll team. Still, there's no doubt the economic troubles of the last year are taking a toll, Johnson and others involved with the poll said. Brad Lubben, a UNL public policy specialist, said it's no coincidence that this year's measure of well-being is similar to 2003's results. Both polls were taken during uncertain economic times, he said. The 2003 poll reflected "lingering concerns about the 2001-2002 recession and the lingering drought in Nebraska," he said. "Now, in 2009, it is the obvious lingering recession that started in 2008. Economic growth/uncertainty is the most common link to changes in satisfactio n/dissatisfaction, so the 2009 results are significant, but not unprecedented," Lubben added. Not surprisingly, concerns are especially high in the areas of employment and income. For example, 32 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with job opportunities, down sharply from 48 percent a year ago. Satisfaction with job security dropped from 73 percent in 2008 to 59 percent this year. And satisfaction with financial security during retirement was down from 38 to 24 percent. Even in other areas of life, though, the poll showed some decreases in satisfaction from 2008 to 2009. Percentages of people satisfied with family life, friends, air quality, education, health, spare time and community still remain quite high, but all showed some dips from a year ago. The economy "affects your perception of just about everything," Johnson said. |
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Sept 9, 2009
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September 1, 2009 | |||
NEWS RELEASES FROM IANR NEWS SERVICE, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKASelf-employment Key to Rural Nebraskans' Job Picture, Poll Says |
The poll found that 12 percent of working-age rural Nebraskans do not have health insurance. Sixty-eight percent have health insurance through job benefits, 16 percent have purchased insurance on their own and 5 percent have insurance through a government program such as Medicaid. The 2009 poll also explored trends in agricultural land ownership. Twenty-three percent of those surveyed reported owning some agricultural land. Sixty-one percent of those landowners are 50 or older. Seventy-six percent of ag land owners said they plan to keep their land for at least the next 10 years. For rural Nebraskans, ag land is "not a speculative asset," Johnson said. "It's a long-term, enduring asset." "For these households," Johnson added, "the relatively favorable income flows to agricultural land over the past few years have likely buffered them at least partially from the full brunt of the economic recession. The Rural Poll is the largest annual poll of rural Nebraskans' perceptions on quality of life and policy issues. This year's response rate was about 44 percent. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent. Complete results are available online at Nebraska Rural Poll. The university's Center for Applied Rural Innovation conducts the poll in cooperation with the Nebraska Rural Initiative with funding from the UNL Extension and the Agricultural Research Division in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. |
Contacts: Center for Applied Rural Innovation Nebraska Rural Poll Project Manager (402) 329-4821 Brad D. Lubben - Ph.D. Agricultural Economics Assistant Professor (402) 472-2235 Bruce Johnson - Ph.D. Agricultural Economics Professor (402) 472-1794 Randy Cantrell - Ph.D. Center for Applied Rural Innovation Professor (402) 472-0919 Dan Moser IANR News & Photography Coordinator (402) 472-3007 Department: Center for Applied Rural Innovation | |
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LINCOLN, Neb. — Self-employment continues to grow in rural Nebraska, especially as "people are pasting together bits and pieces of work" in tough economic times, according to the Nebraska Rural Poll. Surveys for the annual University of Nebraska-Lincoln poll were mailed to about 6,400 randomly selected households in Nebraska's 84 rural counties last March. Results are based on 2,852 responses. For some years, Internal Revenue Service data have shown self-employment to be the fastest growing employment segment in rural America. In at least one recent year, it accounted for all net job growth in non-metropolitan Nebraska, said Randy Cantrell, a Nebraska Rural Initiative rural sociologist who's part of the Rural Poll team. The 2009 poll, conducted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, backs up those findings in a series of questions about employment. The poll found that 66 percent of rural Nebraska households had at least one full-time job contributing to their income, with 36 percent having one full-time job and 30 percent having two. Of the rural households with at least one person working, 47 percent derived part of their income from self-employment last year. |
"People are pasting together bits and pieces of work," Cantrell said. "People are pretty resilient," added agricultural economist Bruce Johnson. "They're doing a lot of things to adapt to economic times." Self-employment is especially prevalent in or near smaller communities. Fifty-nine percent of respondents in or near towns with populations under 500 have some type of self-employment, compared to 34 percent of those in or near communities of 10,000 or more. Sixty-five percent of the self-employed households in or near the smallest communities have a farm or ranch, 43 percent have an ag-related business, 45 percent have a nonag-related business and 17 percent have a contract service to a company. One-fourth of the households with self-employment get at least 76 percent of their income from self-employment. Fifty-six percent get less than half their total household income from self-employment. Since households relying more on self-employment are less likely to have health insurance offered by an employer, "rural residents have a big stake in this health insurance debate," said UNL public policy specialist Brad Lubben. | ||
July 13, 2009 |
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NEWS RELEASES FROM IANR NEWS SERVICE, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
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(Editor’s note: This is the first of several stories reporting on results of the 2009 Nebraska Rural Poll. Complete results can be found online at: http://cari.unl.edu/ruralpoll/report09.shtml) Poll: Rural Nebraskans Adapt to Economic Downturn, Not Always in Healthy Ways LINCOLN, Neb. – Rural Nebraskans are adapting to the economic downturn by cutting back spending on luxuries, but some also are delaying medical treatment or running up credit card debt on routine expenses, according to the Nebraska Rural Poll. The 14th annual University of Nebraska–Lincoln poll, taken last March and April, focused on how rural Nebraskans have been impacted by the recession and what changes they’ve made in their lives. Surveys were mailed to about 6,400 randomly selected households in Nebraska’s 84 non–metropolitan counties. Results are based on 2,852 responses. "There’s a lot of concern," said rural sociologist Randy Cantrell of the Nebraska Rural Initiative. "People are making or planning on making adaptations" in their lives to deal with the economy. In the last year, the poll found, 11 percent of rural Nebraska’s households with employed persons had someone lose a job because of cutbacks or layoffs. About 35 percent of households had their regular working hours or overtime reduced. Twenty–seven percent of respondents said they’d had a household member take on an additional job to support the household. Rural Nebraskans working in production, transportation and warehousing occupations were more likely than those employed in other fields to have experienced job loss. Fifty–eight percent of people working these areas said they’d had work hours or overtime reduced in the last year. Eighteen percent of households with a member in this type of occupation saw someone actually lose their job. Also, 51 percent of rural business owners said they’d seen income losses, and 75 percent of rural Nebraskans suffered investment losses. |
The breadth of investment losses mark one of the most significant differences between this downtown and the Great Depression to which it has been compared, UNL researchers said. "It’s pretty significant that virtually everybody shows investment losses," said Brad Lubben, public policy specialist. "Unlike the Great Depression, Main Street is invested in Wall Street. What happens nationally and globally does affect rural Nebraska. We can’t say we’re immune to it." Rural Nebraskans have taken action to deal with the downturn, according to the poll. Sixty–nine percent said they’ve cut back on entertainment and dining out. Fifty–four percent reported delaying a major purchase, and just under 50 percent said they’d cancelled or delayed vacation plans. Some have even taken up bartering – trading work, services or materials with other persons rather than exchanging money. Thirty–four percent of respondents said they’d used bartering in the last year. However, the Rural Poll found some lower–income Nebraskans have taken more desperate steps to make ends meet. Forty–five percent of respondents with household incomes under $40,000 reported delaying medical services to save money. Twenty–seven percent of respondents with income under $20,000 said they’d used credit cards to pay routine bills. "That is a real red flag," said Bruce Johnson, an agricultural economist. "You can only do that so long and you dig yourself into a deeper hole." Rural Nebraskans continue to worry about the impact of the recession. Thirty–six percent worry about being unable to pay their bills; 44 percent worry they’ll have to postpone retirement; 46 percent worry about meeting their or their children’s educational expenses; 47 percent worry about their home’s value decreasing; and 76 percent worry about further declines in the value of their stocks and retirement investments. |
Rural Nebraskans see both advantages and disadvantages to living in smaller communities and rural areas when economic times are tough. On the one hand, 71 percent said neighbors help each other; on the other hand, 71 percent also agree that there are fewer jobs available. The Rural Poll is the largest annual poll of rural Nebraskans’ perceptions on quality of life and policy issues. This year’s response rate was about 40 percent. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent. The entire report is available at http://cari.unl.edu/ruralpoll/report09.shtml. The university’s Center for Applied Rural Innovation conducts the poll in cooperation with the Rural Initiative with funding from UNL Extension and the Agricultural Research Division in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. 7/13/09–DM Sources: Randy Cantrell, Ph.D., professor, Nebraska Rural Initiative, (402) 472–1772, rcantrell1@unl.edu Bruce Johnson, Ph.D., professor, Agricultural Economics, (402) 472–1794, bjohnson2@unl.edu Brad Lubben, Ph.D., assistant professor, Agricultural Economics, (402) 472–2235, blubben2@unl.edu Rebecca Vogt, Nebraska Rural Poll project manager, Center for Applied Rural Innovation, (402) 329–6251, rvogt2@unl.edu Dan Moser, Writer rpoll09a.13 IANR News Service, (402) 472–3030, dmoser3@unl.edu |
