Consisting of a random national sample of 2,000 Americans, the survey points to strong public sentiment that the government should be doing more to encourage individuals to start businesses and create jobs, which is ultimately the long-term solution for the country’s economic woes.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Americans want to see more initiatives that aid small businesses, like the $15 billion package unveiled by President Obama Monday, according to a new poll released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The survey, conducted by pollster Douglas Schoen, reveals a stark and fundamental gap between the agenda to date in Washington and the attitudes and beliefs of the American people—pointing to a key and unrecognized reason as to why the public has not been satisfied with the overall stimulus package.
Consisting of a random national sample of 2,000 Americans, the survey points to strong public sentiment that the government should be doing more to encourage individuals to start businesses and create jobs, which is ultimately the long-term solution for the country’s economic woes. Three hundred of the 2,000 respondents are entrepreneurs and 300 are aspiring entrepreneurs.
By 63 percent to 23 percent, survey respondents prefer giving individuals the incentives they need to start their own businesses as opposed to allowing the government to create new jobs directly or through big corporations. Further, as a means of leading the country out of the economic crisis, 63 percent of respondents say the United States government needs to encourage the creation of new businesses, which will create sustainable, long-term employment opportunities and economic growth, while only 22 percent favor the government creating new jobs in the public and private sector.
”These two statistics—which produced similar results—underscore the public's deep and abiding belief that the government should facilitate entrepreneurial activity by creating the conditions and policies that make it easier for individuals to take a risk, as opposed to the government itself creating jobs,” said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. “Monday’s announcement to free up more loans for entrepreneurs and small business owners is a step in the right direction, but more can be done to encourage current and future job-creators.”
Other key findings from the survey include:
“These results prove conclusively that Americans recognize the policies that free entrepreneurs to innovate and create jobs are ultimately the best stimulus for our economy in the long run,” said Schramm. “Once the fundamental functions of our economy have been stabilized, it will be entrepreneurs who put our country back on the path of prosperity. This survey says loudly and clearly: we need to create incentives for those who create jobs.”
More findings are available from the full survey, which is available for download at www.kauffman.org/recoverysurvey.
Other statistics about entrepreneurs and the economy are available at www.kauffman.org/researchfacts.
About the Kauffman Foundation
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. Through its research and other initiatives, the Kauffman Foundation aims to open young people's eyes to the possibility of entrepreneurship, promote entrepreneurship education, raise awareness of entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and find alternative pathways for the commercialization of new knowledge and technologies. It also works to prepare students to be innovators, entrepreneurs and skilled workers in the 21st century economy through initiatives designed to improve learning in math, engineering, science and technology. Founded by late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman, the Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo., and has approximately $2 billion in assets. More information is available at www.kauffman.org.
