GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup poll addressing minority rights and relations in the United States finds that the nation's two largest minority groups -- blacks and Hispanics -- have markedly different perceptions of their quality of life in certain respects. According to the June 11-17 Gallup survey, the two groups express similar levels of satisfaction with their housing, health, education and opportunities to succeed in life. Blacks, however, are less satisfied with their family life, personal safety, jobs, and their community as a place in which to live. Also, blacks are much more likely than Hispanics to consider race discrimination in employment to be a problem.
| Percentage "Very Satisfied" With Life Dimension |
 |
Despite these concerns, the overall assessment from blacks about their lives is positive. Close to nine in 10 blacks as well as Hispanics say they are either very or somewhat satisfied with their lives, while only 12% are dissatisfied. Looking just at the percentage "very satisfied," however, blacks are less positive, with only 42% very satisfied, compared to 49% of Hispanics and 54% of non-Hispanic whites.
The vast majority of blacks and Hispanics say they are at least somewhat satisfied with every specific dimension of their personal lives measured in the new survey. The distinctions between the two groups are seen in the generally lower rate of high satisfaction among blacks.
A majority of blacks are very satisfied with only two of the nine areas measured: their family life (59% are very satisfied) and their personal health. By contrast, a majority of Hispanics are very satisfied with four items: their community and their job -- in addition to family life and health. The non-Hispanic white majority adds housing and physical safety to the list of areas it is highly satisfied with, leaving only three about which whites are less content: their opportunities to succeed, their education and their finances.
Hispanics Don't Share Blacks' Concern About Job Discrimination
The largest differences between blacks and Hispanics in the new survey are seen in attitudes related to employment. Among Hispanics who currently work full or part time, 51% say they are very satisfied with their job or the work they do, compared to only 36% of employed blacks who feel this way -- a 15-point gap.
Even more dramatic is the difference in the two groups' perceptions of race discrimination in the job market or workplace: only 18% of blacks believe that racial minorities have job opportunities equal to those of whites while 79% disagree. By contrast, 46% of all Hispanics -- not far from the 53% recorded among non-Hispanic whites -- perceive that there are equal job opportunities, while 51% disagree.
The poll did not find this same difference between blacks and Hispanics in terms of their personal experiences with discrimination. About two-thirds of Hispanics (64%) say they occasionally feel discriminated against in public life or employment because of their Hispanic ethnicity, compared to three-quarters (76%) of blacks who feel discriminated against because of their race. The gap is similar in terms of the percentage who often feel subject to discrimination (that is, on a monthly or more frequent basis): 39% of blacks and 31% of Hispanics.
Only One-Third of Blacks Seem Free of Crime Worries
Another important distinction between blacks and other groups in society is blacks' lower satisfaction with their safety from physical harm or violence. Only 33% of blacks say they are very satisfied with their level of safety. Another 45% are somewhat satisfied while 10% are somewhat dissatisfied and 11% are very dissatisfied. By contrast, 47% of Hispanics and 59% of non-Hispanic whites are very satisfied with their safety.
A related concern for blacks is their community, with only 42% of blacks feeling very satisfied with their community as a place to live compared to 53% of Hispanics and 61% of whites. Blacks living in urban areas are the least content, with only 36% feeling very satisfied, compared to 48% living in suburban and rural areas. This gap in satisfaction is not evident between urban and non-urban Hispanics.
No Group Raves About Its Finances
A majority of blacks indicate strong contentment with their family life, but the percentage is substantially smaller than that among Hispanics: 59% for blacks vs. 73% for Hispanics.
Blacks and Hispanics are fairly similar in their responses to questions about housing, personal health, education, their financial situation and the opportunities they feel they've had to succeed in life. The last three elicit the lowest levels of satisfaction of all nine items measured, with less than a majority of blacks, Hispanics and whites saying they are very satisfied with each. Only one-quarter of all Americans (26%), including 29% of whites, 23% of Hispanics and 15% of blacks say they are very satisfied with their finances.
Survey Methods
These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,375 adults, 18 years and older, including oversamples of blacks and Hispanics, weighted to their correct proportion in the population. Telephone interviews were conducted from June 11-17, 2001. An additional night of interviewing on June 18 was conducted for the black oversample. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. Results based on the subsample of blacks include interviews with 264 black national adults and have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 7 percentage points. Results based on the subsample of Hispanics include interviews with 247 national Hispanics (including 59 conducted in Spanish) and have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 7 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
Next we'd like to know how satisfied are you with each of the following aspects of your life -- very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied. How satisfied are you with -- [RANDOM ORDER]?
A. Your community as a place to live in
|
Very |
Somewhat satisfied |
Somewhat dissatisfied |
Very |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
|||||
|
National Adults |
58 |
30 |
8 |
4 |
* |
|
Men |
59 |
29 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
|
Women |
57 |
30 |
8 |
5 |
* |
|
Non-Hispanic Whites |
61 |
29 |
6 |
4 |
* |
|
Blacks |
42 |
38 |
11 |
8 |
1 |
|
Hispanics |
53 |
31 |
12 |
4 |
* |
B. Your current housing
|
Very |
Somewhat satisfied |
Somewhat dissatisfied |
Very |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
|||||
|
National Adults |
63 |
30 |
5 |
2 |
* |
|
Men |
63 |
32 |
4 |
* |
1 |
|
Women |
63 |
27 |
7 |
3 |
* |
|
Non-Hispanic Whites |
66 |
27 |
5 |
2 |
* |
|
Blacks |
41 |
43 |
11 |
5 |
* |
|
Hispanics |
45 |
36 |
11 |
8 |
* |
C. Your education
|
Very |
Somewhat satisfied |
Somewhat dissatisfied |
Very |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
|||||
|
National Adults |
45 |
42 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
|
Men |
48 |
40 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
|
Women |
44 |
43 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
|
Non-Hispanic Whites |
48 |
40 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
|
Blacks |
38 |
44 |
15 |
3 |
0 |
|
Hispanics |
38 |
41 |
13 |
7 |
1 |
D. Your family life
|
Very |
Somewhat satisfied |
Somewhat dissatisfied |
Very |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
|||||
|
National Adults |
69 |
25 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Men |
72 |
25 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Women |
67 |
25 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
|
Non-Hispanic Whites |
72 |
22 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Blacks |
59 |
32 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
|
Hispanics |
73 |
21 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
E. Your financial situation
|
Very |
Somewhat satisfied |
Somewhat dissatisfied |
Very |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
|||||
|
National Adults |
26 |
51 |
15 |
7 |
1 |
|
Men |
28 |
52 |
15 |
5 |
* |
|
Women |
25 |
51 |
14 |
10 |
* |
|
Whites |
29 |
50 |
14 |
7 |
* |
|
Blacks |
15 |
47 |
20 |
17 |
1 |
|
Hispanics |
23 |
47 |
17 |
13 |
* |
F. Your personal health
|
Very |
Somewhat satisfied |
Somewhat dissatisfied |
Very |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
|||||
|
National Adults |
54 |
35 |
6 |
5 |
* |
|
Men |
57 |
34 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
|
Women |
52 |
35 |
7 |
6 |
* |
|
Non-Hispanic Whites |
54 |
34 |
7 |
5 |
* |
|
Blacks |
54 |
35 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
|
Hispanics |
57 |
30 |
8 |
5 |
0 |
G. Your safety from physical harm or violence
|
Very |
Somewhat satisfied |
Somewhat dissatisfied |
Very |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
|||||
|
National Adults |
55 |
33 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
|
Men |
61 |
31 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
|
Women |
50 |
35 |
9 |
6 |
* |
|
Non-Hispanic Whites |
59 |
31 |
7 |
3 |
* |
|
Blacks |
33 |
45 |
10 |
11 |
1 |
|
Hispanics |
47 |
32 |
12 |
8 |
1 |
H. The opportunities you have had to succeed in life
|
Very |
Somewhat satisfied |
Somewhat dissatisfied |
Very |
No |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
|||||
|
National Adults |
48 |
38 |
10 |
3 |
1 |
|
Men |
53 |
36 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
|
Women |
43 |
40 |
11 |
4 |
2 |
|
Non-Hispanic Whites |
49 |
37 |
10 |
3 |
1 |
|
Blacks |
40 |
43 |
10 |
6 |
1 |
|
Hispanics |
44 |
36 |
10 |
8 |
2 |
I. Your job, or the work you do
|
Very |
Somewhat satisfied |
Somewhat dissatisfied |
Very |
No |
||
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
|
2001 Jun 11-17^ |
||||||
|
National Adults |
50 |
39 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
|
|
Men |
50 |
39 |
6 |
5 |
0 |
|
|
Women |
50 |
38 |
8 |
4 |
0 |
|
|
Non-Hispanic Whites |
51 |
37 |
7 |
5 |
0 |
|
|
Blacks |
36 |
47 |
9 |
7 |
1 |
|
|
Hispanics |
51 |
35 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
|
|
^ |
BASED ON FULL OR PART-TIME EMPLOYED NATIONAL ADULTS: N=646; ±4 PCT. PTS. |
|||||
|
BASED ON FULL OR PART-TIME EMPLOYED NATIONAL ADULT MEN: N=343; ±6 PCT. PTS. |
||||||
|
BASED ON FULL OR PART-TIME EMPLOYED NATIONAL ADULT WOMEN: N=303; ±6 PCT. PTS. |
||||||
|
BASED ON FULL OR PART-TIME EMPLOYED WHITES: N=528; ±5 PCT. PTS. |
||||||
|
BASED ON FULL OR PART-TIME EMPLOYED BLACKS: N=169; ±9 PCT. PTS. |
||||||
|
BASED ON FULL OR PART-TIME EMPLOYED HISPANICS: N=153; ±9 PCT. PTS. |
||||||
SATISFACTION SUMMARY TABLE (BASED ON "VERY SATISFIED")
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
National Adults |
(NA) |
(NA) |
Non-Hisp. |
|
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
Family life |
69 |
72 |
67 |
72 |
59 |
73 |
|
Current housing |
63 |
63 |
63 |
66 |
41 |
45 |
|
Community as a place to live in |
58 |
59 |
57 |
61 |
42 |
53 |
|
Safety from physical harm/violence |
55 |
61 |
50 |
59 |
33 |
47 |
|
Personal health |
54 |
57 |
52 |
54 |
54 |
57 |
|
Job/work |
50 |
50 |
50 |
51 |
36 |
51 |
|
Opportunities to succeed in life |
48 |
53 |
43 |
49 |
40 |
44 |
|
Education |
45 |
48 |
44 |
48 |
38 |
38 |
|
Financial situation |
26 |
28 |
25 |
29 |
15 |
23 |
|
(NA) National Adults |
||||||
Do you feel that racial minorities in this country have equal job opportunities with whites, or not?
|
|
Yes |
No |
No opinion |
|
|
% |
% |
% |
||
|
2001 Jun 12-17 ^ |
||||
|
National Adults |
48 |
50 |
2 |
|
|
Men |
51 |
48 |
1 |
|
|
Women |
45 |
52 |
3 |
|
|
Whites |
53 |
45 |
2 |
|
|
Blacks |
18 |
79 |
3 |
|
|
Hispanics |
46 |
51 |
3 |
|
|
^ |
BASED ON NATIONAL ADULTS INTERVIEWED JUNE 12-17: N=849; ±4 PCT. PTS. |
|||
|
BASED ON NATIONAL ADULT MEN INTERVIEWED JUNE 12-17: N=402; ±5 PCT. PTS. |
||||
|
BASED ON NATIONAL ADULT WOMEN INTERVIEWED JUNE 12-17: N=447; ±5 PCT. PTS. |
||||
|
BASED ON WHITES INTERVIEWED JUNE 12-17: N=692; ±4 PCT. PTS. |
||||
|
BASED ON BLACKS INTERVIEWED JUNE 12-17: N=241; ±7 PCT. PTS. |
||||
|
BASED ON HISPANICS INTERVIEWED JUNE 12-17: N=212; ±7 PCT. PTS. |
||||
Next we have a question about your own experiences as [a black/an Hispanic]. How often do you feel discriminated against in public life or employment because you are [black/Hispanic] -- [ROTATED: every day, every week, about once a month, a few times a year, less than once a year, (or) never]?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Less than once a year |
|
|
|
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
||
|
2001 Jun 11-17 ^ |
||||||||
|
All Blacks |
17 |
7 |
15 |
21 |
16 |
23 |
1 |
|
|
Black men |
15 |
9 |
17 |
23 |
17 |
18 |
1 |
|
|
Black women |
19 |
5 |
12 |
20 |
15 |
28 |
1 |
|
|
All Hispanics |
6 |
12 |
13 |
21 |
12 |
35 |
1 |
|
|
Hispanic men |
8 |
3 |
15 |
26 |
9 |
39 |
* |
|
|
Hispanic women |
5 |
20 |
10 |
16 |
15 |
32 |
2 |
|
|
^ |
BASED ON BLACK ADULTS: N=260; ±7 PCT. PTS. |
|||||||
|
BASED ON BLACK MEN: N=113; ±10 PCT. PTS. |
||||||||
|
BASED ON BLACK WOMEN: N=147; ±9 PCT. PTS. |
||||||||
|
BASED ON HISPANIC ADULTS: N=247; ±7 PCT. PTS. |
||||||||
|
BASED ON HISPANIC MEN: N=125; ±10 PCT. PTS. |
||||||||
|
BASED ON HISPANIC WOMEN: N=122; ±10 PCT. PTS. |
||||||||
* Less than 0.5%
