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BUSINESS

62% Prefer Minimum Wage States Jobs As An Alternative To Welfare

A majority of voters nationwide like the idea of state governments offering jobs instead of welfare payments to those seeking work.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 62% of Likely U.S. Voters think state governments should offer those who have lost their jobs and been unsuccessfully looking for work minimum wage jobs instead of welfare payments. Twenty percent (20%) don’t like this idea, while 19% more are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

A majority of voters of all political party affiliations agree with states offering jobs instead of payments to willing workers, but Democrats are more supportive than Republicans and adults not affiliated with either party.

Tea Party voters are less supportive of the idea than those who are not members of the grass roots movement.

Seventy percent (77%) of union members support state governments hiring, compared to 60% of non-union members.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The match-up surveys of 1,000 Likely Voters were conducted August 29-30, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error for the surveys is +/- 3% with a 95% level of confidence.  Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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