CC image courtesy of JE Koonce: https://bit.ly/2xEwI57
One in 10 say They
Can Maintain Current Standard of Living for Less than One Month
Toronto, April 21st –
In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1335 Canadian
voters, one in 10 (11%) says that if nothing about their financial situation
changed, they would be able to maintain their current standard of living for
less than one month.
A similar proportion
(12%) said they'd be able to maintain their current standard one month.
About one-sixth
(15%) said they'd be able to maintain their current standard of living for two
months, while one in 10 (10%) said they'd be able to maintain it for three
months.
One-sixth (15%) said
they'd be able to maintain it for four to six months, while more than a third
(37%) said they'd be able to do so for seven months or longer.
There is a serious
age gradient to the results.
Just one sixth (16%)
of those 25 and under say they could maintain their current standard of living
for seven months or more, while almost two-thirds (59%) of those 65 and older
say the same.
A quarter expects the pandemic to last
three or four more months
The plurality of
respondents (27%) expects the pandemic will last another three to four months.
Only a few (6%) think
it's going to last one more month.
One-sixth (14%) say
they expect it will last two more months.
One sixth (17%) feel
like it will last five to six more months.
One-in-five (19%)
think it will last seven to twelve more months.
One-sixth (17%) think
it will last more than a year.
A third of those currently employed say
they're working from home in response to the pandemic
A third (31%) of
those currently employed say they are working from home in response to the
pandemic, while a quarter (24%) say they're working at their job's location
with safety precautions.
One in 10 (7%) say
they are working from home, but usually work from home, and four in 10 (38%)
say something else best describes their current working situation.
Ontarians (36%) are
most likely to say that they're working from home in response to the pandemic.
Albertans (37%) are
most likely to say they're working at their job's location with safety
precautions.
Ontarians (8%) and
British Columbians (11%) are most likely to say they work from home on a
regular basis.
Half of workplaces weren't set up for
work from home
Of those employees
who said they are working from home in response to the pandemic, half (53%)
said their organization wasn't set-up for employees to work from home, while
half (47%) said their organization was.
Only one-fifth plans to continue working
from home
One-fifth (19%) of
those employees who said they're working from home in response to the pandemic
said they plan to continue working from home once the pandemic ends. Almost
two-thirds (62%) say they won't.
One-fifth (19%) say
they aren't sure.
The plurality say working from home is
worse than the office
Of those employees
who said they are working from home in response to the pandemic, four in ten
(BTM2: 42%) say working from home is worse than working from the office, with
one-sixth (16%) saying it's much worse.
A third (TOP2: 32%)
say it's better than working from the office, with about one in 10 (12%) saying
it's much better than working from the office.
A quarter (26%) says
it's about the same.
Most of those working on location say
precautions are good
Eight in 10 (TOP2:
81%) rate their current work environment's safety precautions as good, with
about half (51%) saying they are very good.
One-sixth (BTM2: 14%)
said their work's safety precautions were not good, but only a few (3%) said
they weren't good at all.
A few also (5%)
preferred not to say.
“One in ten Canadians say that if nothing
about their financial situation changed, they'd be able to sustain their
current standard of living for less than one month," said
Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “Obviously the financial
impacts of the pandemic are affecting Canadians, and their employers alike.
Amongst those who were forced to work from home due to the pandemic, half said
their organization wasn't prepared in advance for employees to work from
home."
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
