Survey Reveals that Americans Want Government Stimulus for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship
March 17, 2009--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 indicates 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 loosen credit 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."
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.
