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Americans Still Awash in $$, Job Worries
A news release said 55% of respondents listed personal financial concerns as the issue giving them the most stress, followed by 43% listing the state of the U.S. economy, and 27% citing the fear of being laid off.
The number one spot remained the same as last year, but the economy moved from the fourth place last year to the second place this year, while the job-loss worry jumped to number three with a 16% hike over 2008 results, the news announcement said.
Meanwhile, work issues dropped 12%, going from third place to fourth place in the list of worries.
Generational Concerns
While every age group had increased concerns about
their job, Gen Y (ages 18-29) appeared to be the most
fretful according to The Hartford. While fear of losing
one’s job registered across all generations and genders,
Gen X (ages 30-44) and Gen Y had the biggest increases in
2009 results.
“This is the first time that Generation Y has experienced
these types of economic and career issues. They are
concerned about their job security and are addressing
their layoff concerns by staying in the workplace more
this year,” said Marjorie Savage, absence management
director in The Hartford’s Group Benefits Division, in
the news release.
On another topic, The Hartford said more than half of
U.S. workers plan to use all of their paid time off but
are cutting back on vacation spending. The poll found
that 56% of U.S. workers plan to use all of their time
off, an increase of 8% over last year’s survey results,
but when asked what they were most likely to postpone
given the state of the economy, two-thirds (67 %) of
survey participants said their vacation.
“Employees said they value the paid time-off that they
receive from their employers, but they continue to be
worried about their income and expenses. As a result,
they plan to cut back on vacation spending,” said
Savage.
The survey, conducted by Opinauri in April 2009, was conducted online and polled 1,019 U.S. adults age 18-64. The generational breakdown of survey participants was 283 Gen Y workers, 290 Gen X, and 446 Boomers (ages 45-65).