Survey: Seattle Voters Favor Paid Sick Leave

SEATTLE, Sept. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In a new survey conducted by a Seattle-based opinion research firm, a majority of likely November 2011 voters support a concept of paid sick leave similar to an ordinance that the Seattle City Council is expected to consider tomorrow.

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The survey found that 52 percent of respondents reacted positively to the question "If a [Seattle City Council] candidate backed a new paid sick leave policy so that employees who work in the city get paid time off when they are sick, would this make you more or less likely to support that candidate?" Only 22 percent said they would not support such a candidate, a proportion equal to the results of another recent poll conducted by proponents of the proposed sick leave ordinance (http://bit.ly/rk3HkZ).

As with the other recent poll, this survey found that the paid sick leave concept was most popular with younger voters – of those supporting it, nearly half were age 40 or younger. Sixty percent of Democrats backed the concept – Democrats were three times more likely to do so than Republicans. Republicans opposed paid sick leave by a ratio of almost 2:1, unlike the other recent poll, which showed that Republicans were more evenly split for and against.

The survey was carried out from late August through early September by CityFeedback, a division of Survey Analytics, LLC. It had 257 respondents and a margin of error of 6.2 percent.

"What's most intriguing about the CityFeedback survey is that it reached likely voters in an exciting new way," commented Seattle political consultant John Wyble. "The limitations of traditional telephone polling are well-known and highly problematic, whereas this survey reached respondents through their computers or smartphones."

CityFeedback uses an innovative online technology platform to gather opinion data, which allows participants to answer questions through a web browser or with a mobile app tailored for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone smartphones. Survey Analytics, a recognized leader in the field of consumer market research, recently launched CityFeedback to meet the growing needs in the political campaign and public affairs markets.

"We are delighted to demonstrate with this survey how effectively CityFeedback's state-of-the-art platform can take the pulse of voters and key stakeholders," remarked Survey Analytics CEO and founder Vivek Bhaskaran. "In an era where fewer than 3 in 4 households still have landlines, the need to reach people quickly and cost-effectively on their computers and mobile devices is becoming more important every day."

About CityFeedback

CityFeedback, a division of Survey Analytics, LLC, is a survey research platform that reaches participants either through a browser or a downloaded smartphone application. CityFeedback is supported on all browsers and on the iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile and Blackberry smartphones, which together make up 93% of the smartphone market. For more information, visit http://www.cityfeedback.com.

About Survey Analytics, LLC

Survey Analytics is a recognized leader in opinion and market research. The company offers an enterprise grade research platform for collecting feedback to enable businesses, governments and consumers to participate and learn from each other. Through its core businesses of Surveys, Crowdsourcing, Panel Management and Polls -- Survey Analytics listening systems enable businesses, organizations and governments to touch their customers and constituents through all major channels -- including Web, Email, Social Media and Mobile. The self-service and cloud-enabled platform empowers companies to execute and deliver on research in real time and on a global scale. Selected customers include companies like Motorola, McGraw Hill, CareerBuilder and Agencies of the US Federal government including the FCC, USPS and the GSA. For more details, go to http://www.surveyanalytics.com.

SOURCE Survey Analytics