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BHI State of the Household Survey: Mass. residents bask in economic glow |
For the past six years, Massachusetts residents have enjoyed the fruits of robust economic growth. The average annual rate of growth has been 2.1% for employment, 2.4% for real personal income and 3.1% for the withholding tax base. At the same time inflation has held steady.
According to some analysts, the rosy outlook could continue for some time. "There is little to suggest that downside risks are impending or will be of sufficient magnitude in the near term to derail the current expansion from its present course over the next year," writes Alan Clayton-Matthews in Massachusetts Benchmarks.
However, when asked, most Massachusetts residents say their own road to prosperity is more a country road than a superhighway.
According to BHI's latest State of the Household Survey, 35% of Massachusetts residents say they have done better this year than last year while 51% believe their financial condition remains the same. Twelve percent say they are worse off.
The survey, conducted in January 1998, queried 400 Massachusetts voters on topics ranging from the state of the economy to the proposed public financing of sports stadiums. It also examined issues surrounding the idea of a charitable tax credit as a way of supplanting welfare spending in Massachusetts.
A sunny economy boosts optimism for many.
When asked how well they expect to do in 1998, most Massachusetts voters expressed optimism. Forty-four percent said they expect their financial condition to improve in the coming year while 49% said they expect to remain the same as today. Only 5% said they expect to do worse.
In a continuing examination of issues related to tax credits for contributions to charitable organizations, BHI asked Massachusetts residents if they would be more inclined to give to charities that help the poor if they received a more generous tax break for giving. Sixty-nine percent said they would be more inclined, 25% said they would not and 6% did not know.
The charitable tax credit could mean greater opportunities for nonprofit entities that provide services such as food, shelter, job training and day care. BHI asked, "If you were to donate $100 to help the poor, to which one of the following would you be most likely to give all the money? 1) Catholic Charities, 2) The Salvation Army, 3) Habitat for Humanity, 4) a local food pantry or homeless shelter. "
Overall, respondents preferred food pantries or community-based organizations (38%), The Salvation Army (22%), Catholic Charities (21%) and Habitat for Humanity (12%). The results indicate that donors prefer by a significant margin to give to community-based programs over any of the large organizations.
Support for community-based organizations came from persons of all faiths as well as from those with no religious preference. However, Catholics showed a slight preference for Catholic Charities (35%) and community-based organizations (33%), while Protestants favored The Salvation Army (39%) and local food pantries and shelters (45%).
Jewish voters favored Habitat for Humanity (30%) in addition to local charities (48%).
Every age group favored support for local organizations that help the poor with the exception of persons aged 55-64 who favored Catholic Charities (41%).
Catholic Charities, The Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity were used in the poll because they are top philanthropies as included in the Chronicle of Philanthropy and Money magazine.
The survey found that voters would increase private contributions if welfare spending were cut by government. Fifty-nine percent said they would be inclined to give more if government cut back while 29% said they would not.
The data from the survey appear to indicate that voters trust that private charities could deliver welfare service if a state or federal tax credit program were established.
Take me out to the ball game, but not with public funding
Voters oppose public funding to keep the Patriots in Massachusetts by a margin of 55% to 34%, a finding consistent with an earlier BHI poll taken in October 1997.
This aversion to public funding for sports also applies to the Boys of Summer. Only 33% of Massachusetts residents favored using public funds to keep the Red Sox in Massachusetts, while 58% were opposed.
However, if public funds were to be used for a Red Sox stadium, a majority favored using that money to renovate venerable Fenway Park in Boston rather than building a new stadium elsewhere.
Opposition to public funding of sport stadiums is not new. Across the country voters have turned back initiatives for publicly-financed ball parks even when professional sports teams threaten to leave. The economics literature supports this sentiment.
The survey is the second in BHI's State of the Household Project which measures Massachusetts residents' perceptions of fiscal issues of importance to them and their families. BHI conducted the survey with the assistance of Commonwealth Consulting. It had a margin of error of + 4 percent.
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