2 out of 3 Americans support providing more generous government assistance to the poor

In a new study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 63% of Americans favor more generous government assistance to the poor while 31% are opposed. There are sharp differences between race, and political standing, but for the large part Americans as a whole seem to support this type of assistance.

In addition, majorities of all religious groups favor more government assistance to the poor, and support is especially high among black Protestants and Hispanic Catholics.

This seems to contrast the widespread message that government benefits should be the first items slashed as we attempt to balance budgets at the state and national levels. I believe that Americans feel sympathy for those struggling due to economic conditions and feel the government should help support them.

See the full report at: http://pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Few-Say-Religion-Shapes-Immigration-Environment-Views.aspx#1

Survey: Half of unemployed workers with job offers said pay was below 25 percent of previous salary

A survey conducted by personified, CareerBuilder's talent consulting arm, shows that 17 percent of unemployed workers have received at least one job offer, and of those workers, 92 percent rejected it.

Basically, jobs are offering lower and lower salaries than workers are used to, with many reporting a 25 percent decrease in salary from their previous job.

Rather than jumping on the first job offer that comes their way, workers are assessing which opportunities really make the most sense for them in terms of compensation and long-term potential," said Mary Delaney, President of Personified.

Insufficient pay was the number one reason unemployed workers turned down a job opportunity. Fifty-four percent of those who rejected an offer reported the pay was more than 25 percent below the salary they earned in their most recent position.

On the other hand, not everyone is spending their full time and resources job searching.

The survey also found that 62 percent of unemployed workers apply to 10 or more jobs each week. However, not everyone treats finding a job like a full-time job. According to the survey, 18 percent of unemployed workers in the survey spend less than five hours a week looking for a job. Thirty percent said they spend more than 20 hours a week job searching.

The statistics seem to suggest that people simply are lazy and aren't spending enough time job searching. However, I will argue that there simply aren't enough jobs out there in most communities to spend more than 20 hours a week searching, especially in Michigan. Being unemployed a few years ago and looking into the abyss again this winter, I can attest that activities such as networking and volunteering lead to better opportunities than traditional job searching techniques.

http://www.mlive.com/michigan-job-search/index.ssf/2010/09/survey_half_of_unemployed_workers_with_j.html