If you think babies are a lot of work, are you less likely to want them?

We asked two questions about babies and people’s plans for having children on a recent poll. Overall, 53% of our sample already has at least one child, 5% have no children but would like to have children within the next  year, 13% have no children but would like to further in the future, and 28% do not plan to have any children.  Meanwhile, we also asked people their level of agreement with the statement “babies are a lot of work”. And most people agreed that babies are a lot of work – 66% of our sample strongly agreed and 26% somewhat agreed with this statement.

Because almost everyone agreed that babies are a lot of work, differences of opinion on this question between people with different parenting plans are small.  Those who do not plan to have any children are slightly more likely than the overall sample to strongly agree that babies are a lot of work, with 70% feeling this way. And those who are already parents believe babies are less work than those who are not parents  –  62% of those with children strongly agree that babies are a lot of work, compared to 74% of those who have no children but would like them at some point and 70% of those who do not want children.

If you have children, was taking care of them as babies more or less work than you imagined? Did the amount of work involved in raising children factor into your decision on whether or not to have them?

Katy Uncategorized lifestyles

A new Zogby poll shows that 64% of Americans have either already donated or planned to donate to Haiti relief efforts. The full press release can be found here, but majorities of Americans in almost every subgroup plan to help out, including 71% of Democrats, 58% of Republicans, 50% of those between 18 and 29, 65% of those between 30 and 49, 70% of those between 50 and 64, and 69% of those over 65.

Have you donated money or time to Haiti relief efforts, or do you plan to do so? What organizations do you think will do the most effective job in Haiti?

Katy charity, international charity, international, lifestyles

We recently included several winning Top Question Tuesday selections on an interactive poll. Stay tuned to this blog as we’ll be releasing the results over the next several weeks! And don’t forget to submit your own nominations for Top Question Tuesday using the box on the right of this blog.

One question asked respondents if they couldn’t live in the US or US territories anymore, which area of the world would they choose for their new home. Overall, 24% of those surveyed selected Australia/New Zealand, 19% selected Canada, 17% said Western Europe, 16% were not sure, and 9% selected the Caribbean. All other options (Central America, Mexico, South America, North Africa, Southern Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Antarctica) received less than 3% of the total.

Age, race, gender, education and whether one lived in a large city, small city, suburb or rural area had minimal impact on the region or country selected. Progressives and liberals were more likely than average to favor Canada, with 36% of progressives and 33% of liberals selecting this country. Conservatives and very conservatives were more likely than average to favor Australia/New Zealand, with 38% of conservatives and 40% of very conservatives selecting this region. This pattern was also seen with Democrats and Republicans, with 30% of Democrats selecting Canada and 36% of Republicans selecting Australia/New Zealand.

If you could no longer live in the US, where would you move and why?

Katy global issues, international education, elections, global issues, lifestyles, middle east, race, Top Question Tuesday

With the economy in a slump (the New York Times today announced that the US economy is in the 2nd straight quarter of steep decline), what are your plans for summer vacation? Will you still take one? Where will you go? How much will you spend? What will you  buy?  How else will the economy affect (or not affect) your summer vacation plans?

Katy economics, lifestyles, recreation, travel economy, leisure, lifestyles, summer, vacation

At least one industry seems to be prospering in the current recession. According to a recent article in The Economist, online dating sites like OK Cupid and eHarmony are seeing recent  increases in their memberships.  The head of OK Cupid is quoted in the  article as saying that OK Cupid users sent approximately 6,000 messages a day back in September; now, that number is closer 18,000 a day.  The graph of  OK Cupid registered users by month (included with the article)  clearly shows an upward trend in membership; in February of 2008, OK Cupid had between 400,000 and 600,000 registered users, while the site now has between 800,000 and 1,000,000 registered users.

In a recent Zogby Interactive poll, we asked our survey-takers whether they’d ever tried internet dating. Overall, 32% of those surveyed had tried internet dating.  The percentage was higher among those aged 18-29 (50%) and lower among older age groups (35% of those aged 30-49, 24% of those 50-64, and 13% of those over 65%). There were no significant differences between genders,  with 31% of men and 32% of women answering that they had tried internet dating.

The Economist article lists several potential causes for the increase in people trying internet dating. Among them are people having more time now to devote to their personal lives, economic uncertainty leading to some sort of “nesting” instinct and search for stability and comfort, or perhaps people feeling that  living as a couple is less expensive than living alone. And here’s a recession dating tip from the article: “if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, you can just play Scrabble instead of going out for the evening.”

What do you think accounts for the popularity of internet dating – is it the nesting instinct, the greater amount of free time, or the desire to cut bills by being part of a couple? Or is it something else? Has the recession changed your romantic life?

Katy culture, lifestyles internet, lifestyles, recession, romance, war, zogby

Last week, we posted about our marital status question asked on all Zogby surveys. Specifically, we looked at the rationale for counting a small number of widowed respondents as part of a larger category including divorced, separated, and widowed respondents.   Although we know widowed respondents have a different situation than divorced and separated respondents, we worried that the small number of widowed respondents would mean that we ultimately wouldn’t be able to analyze data in this category.

One of the post’s comments suggested that we offer widowed as a separate option to survey-takers but combine the responses after the survey is completed. Well, we listened, and that’s what we’re going to do. Starting soon, the new Zogby question on marital status  will have answer options of single, married, divorced/separated, widowed,  and civil union/domestic partnership. We may still aggregate the divorced/separated and widowed responses after the survey if there are not enough responses in the widowed category, but we hope that this change in answer options allows widowed respondents to feel like their voices are  being heard.

As always, thanks for your feedback and interest in making Zogby surveys better!

Katy lifestyles, methodology lifestyles, marriage, methodology, zogby

A president of the UK Faculty of Public Health recently advocated more government regulation of life-style choices, especially as they relate to alcohol, tobacco and “junk-food.” However, last year also saw the public uproar in the US regarding suspension of a student who secretly bought Skittles from another student.

Our data show that, as of now, most Americans (63%) disagree that “the federal government should be more involved in making sure that people lead healthy lifestyles.” However,  we also found some interesting generational trends.   First Globals are the age group most likely to agree with the statement that “the federal government should be more involved in making sure that people lead healthy lifestyles.” In our survey of all age groups, 40% of First Globals agreed with this statement, compared to 25% in other age groups. However, a plurality of First Globals (47%) disagreed.

Some say that people should not be forced to be “healthy” and that there is no single “healthy” way of living. Besides, one might be willing to sacrifice some of his health for pleasures that come with engaging in some “unhealthy” behaviors. Others believe that science has discovered basic principles of healthy life and that it is people’s ignorance that makes them hurt their own bodies thus creating a cost not only to themselves but to the rest of society as well. What do you think?

Zeljka consumption, lifestyles, politics first globals, health, lifestyle, lifestyles