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BUSINESS & POLITICS IN THE WORLD GLOBAL OPINION REPORT NO. 727-728 Week:
January 24 –February 06, 2022 Presentation:
February 11, 2022 Indian
Premier League Tops YouGov’s 2022 Sports Buzz Rankings In India Yet Again In
Turkey, 3 Out Of 4 Employees Want To Find A Solution To The Cost Of Lives If
They Could The
Summer Olympics Tops YouGov’s 2022 Sports Buzz Rankings In UAE The
YouGov Big Survey On Drugs; Four In Ten Britons (40%) Think That Uk Drug Laws
Are Too Soft More
Than A Third Of Britons Cannot Afford To Heat Their Home To A Comfortable
Level 7
In 10 Britons Dissatisfied With Boris Johnson As Prime Minister By
48% To 38% Londoners Think Sadiq Khan Is Doing Badly As Mayor Nine
In Ten NHS Workers Say Their Workplace Has Seen Staff Shortages Due To COVID-19 One
In Ten Brits Are Interested In The NFL Wordle:
Starter Words, Hard Mode And X/6 - How Are Britons Playing The Hit Game The
French Are Pessimistic About The Benefits Of Artificial Intelligence Republicans
And Democrats Alike View Russia More As A Competitor Than An Enemy Of The U S In
U S, Women More Likely Than Men To Report Feeling Empathy For Those Suffering Public’s
Views Of Supreme Court Turned More Negative Before News Of Breyer’s
Retirement Black
Women Account For A Small Fraction (2%) Of The Federal Judges Who Have Served
To Date Half
(52%) Of Canadians Agree Government Should Enact A Tax On Unvaccinated People What
Impact Has Brexit Had On The EU; Yougov Asks 10 European Nations INTRODUCTORY NOTE 727-728-43-40/Commentary: Debate On
Gains And Losses Of Remote Education During COVID 19. Is Hybrid Model For
Children? The Best Views From USA One of the
unfortunate consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic was that it forced many
children to learn from home. It is now well-documented that remote learning
resulted in substantial learning loss. The slowdown in academic progress was
especially pronounced among Black students, Latino students and those from
low-income households. Yet,
evidence from a 2020
NewSchools Venture Fund/Gallup study suggests that
the quality of digital learning tools (websites, apps, online tutorials,
online games and videos, or programs used to teach and support student
learning and schoolwork) may have blunted the negative impact of remote
schooling. Better student outcomes -- including ease of learning from home,
confidence in schools' ability to provide high-quality education, and
expectations for learning progress -- are strongly associated with the
quality of digital learning tools, as reported by teachers, parents and
students. These
results are based on web surveys conducted in July and August 2020, with
1,111 teachers, 2,345 parents and 1,088 students in grades three through 12.
Student and parent responses were excluded if parents stated that their child
did no distance learning in the spring of 2020 (less than 1% of the sample). The findings
indicate that universal access to digital learning tools will probably not
generate gains for students nor equitable opportunities across groups of
students unless the tools themselves are of high quality. About one in five teachers, parents and students rated their digital
learning tools as "excellent," less than the proportion who rated
them as "fair" or "poor." The
preponderant response -- comprising roughly half of answers -- was that
digital learning tools were "good." There was remarkable
consistency across teachers, parents and students in providing these ratings.
Custom
graphic. About one in five teachers (21%), parents (20%) and students (20%)
rated their digital learning tools in the spring of 2020 as excellent, less
than the proportion who rated them as fair or poor. Teachers working in schools with a higher percentage of children from
low-income households were less likely to rate digital learning tools as
"excellent" or "good" than were teachers serving
high-income students. In general, schools with
a higher percentage of children from low-income families had lower-quality
digital learning tools, according to their teachers.1 When
comparing teachers at schools with less than 25% of students meeting
eligibility criteria for reduced-price lunch to those with at least 75%, the
gap in digital learning quality (using the share reporting
"excellent" or "good") was 10.9 percentage points in
favor of students from high-income households. This suggests that students in
low-income schools had less access to the most useful digital tools.
Custom
graphic. Teachers working in schools with a higher percentage of children
from low-income households, at 67.4%, were less likely to rate digital
learning tools used in the spring of 2020 as excellent or good than were teachers
serving high-income students, at 78.3%. Across teachers, parents and students, the quality of digital
learning tools is strongly associated with several indicators of learning
outcomes. These indicators measure the reported
ease of learning from home, confidence in schools' ability to provide
high-quality education, and expectations for learning progress in the
subsequent semester. When asked
whether students found learning from home easy or hard compared with learning
at school, teachers, parents and students who reported having high-quality
learning technology were all more likely than those without that digital
advantage to consider remote learning "easy" or "very
easy." For instance, teachers who rated their digital learning tools as
"excellent" were 32 percentage points more likely to say remote
learning was easy or very easy, compared with teachers who rated their
digital learning tools as "poor." The gaps in ease of learning
reported by parents and students were 45 points and 13 points, respectively. When asked
about the upcoming fall semester of 2020, each group also expressed greater
confidence in their school's ability to provide high-quality education when
they reported having high-quality learning technology. To illustrate, we
looked at the percentages of respondents who expressed high confidence in
their school's ability (a "4" or "5" on a five-point
scale) among two groups: those who gave digital learning tools an
"excellent" rating and those who gave them a "poor"
rating. Confidence in school ability was 31 percentage points higher among
teachers who rated digital tools as "excellent" compared with those
rating them "poor." The effect was even stronger for parents (38
points) and stronger still for students (44 points). Thus, across all groups,
optimism about their school's ability to provide high-quality education was
much higher when digital learning tools were perceived as high-quality. Likewise,
when asked whether students would learn more, the same or less than in a
typical fall semester, each group was much more likely to expect learning
gains to be on par with the standards or even above them when they rated
digital learning tools as "excellent" compared with
"poor." In this case, the gaps for teachers, parents and students
were similar, at 28, 30 and 34 points, respectively. To rule out
whether the association between quality digital tools and educational
outcomes simply reflects a bias toward positivity by certain respondents, or
household income levels, we conducted additional research to test for those
issues. Even when controlling for these factors, the results didn't change.
Thus, we have confidence that there is a robust association. Details of this
analysis are provided in the appendix. Overall,
these results suggest a strong connection between learning during the
pandemic and the quality of digital learning tools. Moreover, there is
remarkable agreement on the important relationship between technology and
learning across students, parents and teachers. Taken at face value, these
results provide compelling motivation to identify the best digital learning
tools and make them more widely available. At the very least, doing so would
likely raise students' and their supporters' confidence in making learning
gains, boost expectations for exceeding standards, and ease the difficulty of
learning from home. Yet, there
are several important limitations to this analysis, which point to
opportunities for further research to test these findings more rigorously.
The survey did not directly measure learning using objective, reliable
metrics -- such as performance on standardized tests. However, subjective
reports and expectations are often correlated with objective progress, so the
positive association between digital learning and actual learning would
likely hold using objective measures. Still, test score data would clarify
the strength of the relationship and allow for comparisons to other
well-studied interventions, like tutoring. The same
measurement limitation applies to the subjective evaluation of digital
learning tools. These subjective measures should be considered alongside
objective specifications or specific software. In future studies, researchers
could ask students, parents and teachers to provide subjective ratings of
specific digital tools to study the relationship between the two. Those data
could then be used to identify the features of digital technology that
predict higher ratings. Beyond
measurement challenges, another important limitation is that the association
between technology and learning cannot be confidently interpreted as a causal
effect because the quality of digital learning tools is not randomly
assigned. More ambitious social science research could randomly assign
students to use the highest-rated tools and test the effects on objective
learning outcomes. In the
absence of those findings, the results here nonetheless should motivate
school administrators to solicit feedback from teachers, parents and students
about whether the digital tools they currently use are working for them. Even
with most districts providing full-time in-person schooling, the quality of
digital learning tools is likely to affect learning outcomes for the
foreseeable future.
Custom
graphic. Better student outcomes -- including ease of learning from home,
confidence in schools' ability to provide high-quality education, and
expectations for learning progress -- are strongly associated with the
quality of digital learning tools, as reported by teachers, parents and
students. (Gallup) FEBRUARY 3,
2022 727-728-43-41/Commentary: Academic,
Emotional Concerns Outweigh COVID-19 Risks In Parents’ Views About Keeping
Schools Open, Only A Few (9%) Say School Should Be Fully Online Amid a surge
of COVID-19 cases due
to the omicron variant, a narrow majority of parents of K-12
students (53%) say schools in the United States should be providing a mix of
in-person and online instruction this winter, according to a new Pew Research
Center survey. Some 37% say K-12 schools should be providing in-person
instruction only, while just 9% say schools should be fully online.
When asked
what factors schools should consider in deciding whether to stay open for
in-person instruction this winter, most parents of K-12 students say a lot of
consideration should be given to the possibility that students will fall
behind academically (67%) or that their emotional well-being will be
negatively impacted (61%) if they don’t attend school in person. Smaller
shares cite parents not being able to work if their children are home (52%),
the risk to students or teachers of getting or spreading the coronavirus (43%
and 39%, respectively), and the financial cost to school systems of following
public health guidelines for safely keeping schools open (26%). In July
2020, more K-12 parents said health risks to students (64%) and teachers
(61%) should be given a lot of consideration in decisions about reopening
schools than said the same about the possibility of students falling behind
academically without in-person instruction (54%). By February 2021 – when
many schools that had been providing online instruction were deciding whether
to reopen for in-person instruction – six-in-ten parents said academic
considerations should be a major factor, while smaller shares pointed to
health risks to teachers (47%) or students (45%). As has been
the case throughout the pandemic, views about how schools should be handling
instruction vary widely along party lines. Among parents of K-12 students,
Republicans and those who lean Republican (55%) are far more likely than
Democrats and Democratic leaners (26%) to say schools should be providing
in-person instruction only this winter. A majority of Democratic parents
(64%) – compared with 39% of Republican parents – say schools should be
providing a mix of in-person and online instruction.
Republican
parents are more likely than Democratic parents to say a lot of consideration
should be given to the possibility that students will fall behind
academically or that their emotional well-being will be negatively impacted
without in-person instruction. Republicans are also more likely than Democrats
to say parents not being able to work if their children are home should be an
important factor in these decisions. In turn, larger shares of Democratic
than Republican parents say the risk to teachers and students of getting or
spreading the coronavirus should be given a lot of consideration. Views also
vary across demographic groups. White parents (47%) are far more likely than
non-White parents (25%) to say schools should be providing in-person
instruction only this winter, while non-White parents are about three times
as likely as White parents to say schools should be fully online (14% vs. 5%,
respectively). (The non-White category includes parents who identify as
Black, Asian, Hispanic, some other race or multiple races; these groups could
not be analyzed separately due to sample size limitations.)
Some 46% of
upper-income parents and 43% of those with middle incomes say schools should
be in-person only, compared with 28% of lower-income parents. Among
lower-income parents, 16% say schools should be providing online instruction
only; just 7% of those with middle incomes and an even smaller share of
upper-income parents (2%) say the same. These
differences reflect, at least in part, the factors parents say should be
given a lot of consideration in decisions about whether to keep schools open
this winter. Non-White parents are more likely than White parents to say
health risks to students (56% vs. 33%, respectively) and teachers (50% vs.
31%) should be major factors. By contrast, White parents (66%) are more
likely than non-White parents (54%) to cite concerns that students’ emotional
well-being will be negatively impacted if they don’t attend school in person.
Similar shares of White (69%) and non-White (65%) parents say academic concerns
should be given a lot of consideration. Lower-income
parents are more likely than those with middle or upper incomes to say the
risk to students of getting or spreading COVID-19 should be given a lot of
consideration in these decisions; those with upper incomes are the most
likely to cite concerns about academics and students’ emotional well-being if
they don’t attend school in person. Most parents of K-12 students say their children are getting
in-person instruction only While a
majority of parents think K-12 schools should be offering a mix of in-person
and online instruction this winter, just 16% say this is the type of
instruction their children are currently getting. About seven-in-ten (71%)
say their children are getting in-person instruction only, while just 5% say
their children are getting only online instruction. In
October 2020, a plurality of K-12 parents (46%) said
their children were getting online instruction only, while 20% said they were
getting only in-person instruction and 23% said there was a mix.
Upper-income
parents are the most likely to say their children are getting in-person
instruction only: 84% say this in the new survey, compared with 77% of those
with middle incomes and an even smaller share of those with lower incomes
(58%). About one-in-ten lower-income parents (9%) say their children are
getting online instruction only, while 23% say their children are getting a
mix of in-person and online instruction. Just 3% of K-12 parents with middle
incomes and 2% of those with upper incomes say their children are getting
only online instruction, while about one-in-ten in each group say they are
getting a mix. (PEW) FEBRUARY 4,
2022 ASIA (India) Half Of Urban Indians (55%) Follow The Budget, And Many
More Agree It Impacts Their Personal Finances Ahead of Budget 2022 which will be
presented by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1st February 2022,
data from YouGov’s latest survey reveals three-quarters
(74%) of urban Indians agree that income tax is important for the country’s
economic development. Having said that, nearly two-thirds (65%) of them are
unhappy about the current tax structure in the country and a higher
proportion (77%) feels the tax structure should vary depending on a person's
economic status. (YouGov India) January 28, 2022 Indian Premier League Tops YouGov’s 2022 Sports Buzz
Rankings In India Yet Again The Indian Premier League tops YouGov’s 2022 Sports Buzz Rankings in India for the second year in
succession with a Buzz score of 50.8. Even in its 14th season and interrupted
by COVID outbreaks which forced it to relocate to the UAE – the IPL continues
to hold Indians in its thrall, creating a lot of positive Buzz. The rankings
in YouGov’s 2022 Buzz Report are based on the Buzz scores, which measures
whether respondents have heard something positive or negative about a brand
recently. (YouGov India) (Singapore) Three-Quarters (76%) Of Singaporeans Who Typically
Celebrate Chinese New Year Intend To Proceed With Celebrations This Year, As
Compared To Only 60% Last Year Two years on from the very first reported
case of Covid-19 in the nation, Singapore’s Chinese New Year celebrations are
set to be a comparatively muted affair for the second year running, following
news that current safe management rules will stay in place during the festive
season. Latest data from YouGov shows three-quarters (76%) of Singaporeans
who typically celebrate Chinese New Year intend to proceed with celebrations
this year, as compared to only 60% last year. (YouGov Singapore) (Turkey) In The 21st Month Of The Epidemic, The Practice Of Remote
Working In Companies Continues At A Rate Of Only 9% In Turkey In the 21st month of the epidemic, the
practice of remote working in companies continues at a rate of only 9%. The
new working model, the hybrid working model, is applied in 8% of the
companies. The working model foreseen at the end of the pandemic is the
flexible-time working model. It is thought that remote and hybrid working
models will be implemented in 10% of companies. Considering the first 3
problems experienced by the employees, it can be said that there is not much
change. Today, employee motivation is stated as an even more important
problem. (Ipsos Turkey) 25 January 2022 In Turkey, 3 Out Of 4 Employees Want To
Find A Solution To The Cost Of Lives If They Could In the research carried out by the Ipsos
research company; When employees in our country are asked what they would
like to solve if they had the opportunity to solve a problem, 76% of them
stated cost of living and inflation. Despite the rapid increase in the number
of cases in the epidemic, the rate of those who say they would like to find a
cure for the epidemic is 16%.45% of
the employees state that there is a lack of workforce due to the fact that
the employees in the workplace are caught or in contact with Covid-19, but it
has no effect on production, while 11% state that it both causes a lack of
labor and negatively affects production. (Ipsos Turkey) 1 February 2022 MENA (UAE) The Summer Olympics Tops YouGov’s 2022 Sports Buzz Rankings
In UAE The Summer Olympics dethroned its nearest
rival FIFA World Cup in YouGov’s 2022 Sports Buzz Rankings in the UAE to become the sports
property with the most positive Buzz among the residents in the country
(39.9). The quadrennial mega-event outscored the FIFA World Cup (which now
holds the second position with a buzz score of 33.6) by more than six points.
Formula 1 makes a strong showing to appear in third place (23.6) in our
ranking. (YouGov MENA) February 1, 2022 AFRICA (Zambia) Three-Quarters (75%) Of Zambians Say The Previous
Government Did A Poor Job Of Addressing The Needs Of Young People Most Zambians say the previous government
did a poor job of addressing the needs of young people, the latest
Afrobarometer survey shows. Three-quarters (75%) of Zambians say the previous
government did a poor job of addressing the needs of young people. Almost
two-thirds (64%) of citizens say they would be “somewhat” or “strongly”
supportive if the government decided to make people pay more taxes in order
to support programs to help young people. (Afrobarometer) 24 January 2022
Seven In 10 Moroccans (70%) Want The Government To Continue
To Permit Foreigners And Foreign Corporations To Set Up Retail Shops In The
Country Moroccans welcome open trade and see the
United States as the best model for the country’s development, according to
the latest Afrobarometer survey. Large majorities say that in order to
develop, Morocco must trade with other countries and allow foreign businesses
to operate in their country instead of protecting domestic producers from
competition. Two-thirds (65%) of Moroccans say the country must rely on trade
with the rest of the world in order to develop, including by opening its
borders to foreign imports. (Afrobarometer) 1 February 2022
About One In Four Adult Citizens (27%) In Namibia Report
Having Received At Least One Dose Of A Covid-19 Vaccine, According To The
Survey In Late 2021 More than seven in 10 adult Namibians have
not been vaccinated against COVID-19, and a majority of the unvaccinated say
they are likely to stay that way, a recent Afrobarometer survey indicates. About
one in four adult citizens (27%) report having received at least one dose of
a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the survey in late 2021. Another 27% say
they are at least “somewhat likely” to get vaccinated, while 43% say they are
unlikely to do so. (Afrobarometer) 3 February 2022 WEST
EUROPE (UK) The YouGov Big Survey On Drugs; Four In Ten Britons (40%)
Think That Uk Drug Laws Are Too Soft Four in ten Britons (40%) think that UK
drug laws are too soft, while one in five (19%) think they are too strict, and
a quarter (24%) think they are about right. Men are more likely than women to
think that UK laws on drugs are too strict (22% vs 15%). Younger Britons are
also likely to see the drug laws as being too strict: 30% among those aged
18-24, compared to 21% of 25-39 year olds, and 12-17% among those aged 40 and
older. (YouGov UK) January 24, 2022 More Than A Third Of Britons Cannot Afford To Heat Their
Home To A Comfortable Level A new YouGov survey reveals that more than
a third (37%) of Britons say that, when it is very cold outside, they cannot
afford to heat their home to a level where they are comfortably warm. This
group is made up of 28% who say they can heat their home to a level where
they’re warm, but not as warm as they would like to be, 7% who say they can
only afford to stave off the worst of the cold and 2% who cannot afford to
heat their home at all. (YouGov UK) January 26, 2022 7 In 10 Britons Dissatisfied With Boris Johnson As Prime
Minister Dissatisfaction levels with PM match those
of Theresa May in her final months in office. 24% are satisfied with the job
Boris Johnson is doing as Prime Minister (down 4 points from December), 70%
are dissatisfied (up 5 points). His net satisfaction rating now stands at
-46. This is Mr Johnson’s lowest net rating yet. This is only marginally
better than John Majors net rating at this point in his tenure as PM (-50,
May 1993). (Ipsos MORI) 27 January 2022 By 48% To 38% Londoners Think Sadiq Khan Is Doing Badly As
Mayor Almost a year into Sadiq Khan's second term
as Mayor of London, YouGov polling finds for the first time that Londoners
tend think he's doing badly (48%) rather than well (38%) in the job. Our
previous survey in late March/early April last year, prior to Khan’s
re-election, had found Londoners split, with 45% saying he was doing well
versus 42% who thought he was doing badly. (YouGov UK) January 27, 2022 Nine In Ten NHS Workers Say Their Workplace Has Seen Staff
Shortages Due To COVID-19 A new YouGov survey of healthcare professionals
reveals that 95% of NHS staff say their workplace has been affected by staff
shortages due to COVID-19 recently. This includes nearly half (48%) who say
their workplace has been affected to a “great” extent and 37% affected to a
“moderate” extent. A mere 3% say they haven’t been affected by recent
shortages. Some 18% say recently retired staff have returned to work to
help plug the gap. A further 9% say their workplace is using volunteers to
fill posts. (YouGov UK) February 02, 2022 One In Ten Brits Are Interested In The NFL Ahead of Super Bowl LVI, we take a look at
the level of interest in the National Football League (NFL) in Britain and
dig up some key insights into this audience base. YouGov Profiles data tells
us that almost one in ten Brits (9%) are either somewhat interested in the
NFL or say it’s one of their top interests. Two in five (39%) of those
interested in NFL belong to that age group, while they constitute 35% of the
general population. (YouGov UK) February 02, 2022 Britons Lack Confidence In The Thoroughness, Independence
And Likelihood Of Disciplinary Action From The Metropolitan Police
Investigation Into Downing Street Parties New research by Ipsos in the UK shows half
or more of Britons are not very confident, if at all, that the investigation
currently being carried out by the Metropolitan Police into the alleged
breaking of Coronavirus restrictions in Downing Street will be thorough,
independent or result in disciplinary action for any found to have broken the
rules. Only 4 in 10 (41%) are confident that the police investigation will be
thorough while half (52%) say they are not very confident or not at all
confident. In comparison, 51% were confident the civil service inquiry would
be thorough, 45% were not. (Ipsos MORI) 3 February 2022 Wordle: Starter Words, Hard Mode And X/6 - How Are Britons
Playing The Hit Game The game of the moment is Wordle, a simple
pastime that gives players six chances to guess a five-letter word, providing
clues based on whether they have guessed any correct letters and whether they
are in the right place. The fact that you can only play Wordle once per day
has some enthusiastic fans clicking on to the website at the stroke of
midnight in order to get their latest fix, leading to at least one meme on the subject. Our survey shows that this midnight club
constitutes 8% of British players. A further 29% get their daily Wordle game
in before work at 9am, while another 25% will have made their guesses before
noon. (YouGov UK) February 03, 2022 Only 1 In 5 Think Boris Johnson Is Handling The Situation
Between Russia And Ukraine Well, But Few Think Keir Starmer Would Do A Better
Job As talks continue to try and stop Russia
invading Ukraine, new research by Ipsos shows 1 in 5 Britons think Boris
Johnson has done a good job of handling the ongoing situation (19%) while 2
in 5 (41%) think he’s done a bad job. Despite an overall negative view
of Boris Johnson’s response to the situation in Ukraine, few believe the
leader of the opposition would do a better job. One in 5 (22%) say Keir
Starmer would do a better job than the current PM in responding to the
situation between Ukraine and Russia, the same proportion say Boris Johnson
would so a better job than the leader of the opposition. (Ipsos MORI) 4 February 2022
53% Of French People Say That The Prices They Have Paid In
Recent Weeks Generally Seem Higher Than They Were Six Months Ago 53% of French people say that the prices
they have paid in recent weeks generally seem higher than they were six months ago (global average:
59%). The expenditure items that have increased the most according to the
French are: Transport ( 72 %),
Expenses ( 71 %), Food
( 66 %). 4 out of 10
French people expect an increase in
their spending in the next three months. (Ipsos France) January 24, 2022 The French Are Pessimistic About The Benefits Of Artificial
Intelligence Ipsos questioned the French alongside
27 citizens of the world on the confidence they can have in artificial
intelligence. The French are only 50% to understand what AI is (-14
pts compared to the global), and few (34%) have more confidence in companies
using AI (-16 pts compared to the world average). One of the main
reasons cited: lack of knowledge of products or services that require
artificial intelligence (only 34% of French people say they know them,
compared to 50% overall). (Ipsos France) January 26, 2022 NORTH AMERICA (USA) A Majority Of U S Adults (61%) Are Optimistic That
The New Year Will Be Better Than The Year That Just Ended A majority of U.S. adults (61%) are
optimistic that the new year will be better than the year that just ended,
according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. Public satisfaction with
national conditions remains low. Just 21% say they are satisfied with the way
things are going in the country, while 78% are dissatisfied. The share
expressing satisfaction with the state of the nation is down slightly since
September (26%) and down 12 percentage points since last March (from 33%). (PEW) JANUARY 25, 2022 Republicans And Democrats Alike View Russia More As A
Competitor Than An Enemy Of The U S Overall, 49% of U.S. adults consider Russia
a competitor of the U.S., while 41% say it is an enemy. Only 7% consider
Russia a partner of the U.S. Republicans and Democrats have similar views of
Russia’s relationship to the U.S.: Half of Republicans and Republican-leaning
independents regard Russia as a competitor to the U.S., while 39% say it is
an enemy. Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, 49% view Russia as a
competitor, while 43% see it as an enemy. (PEW) JANUARY 26, 2022 In U S, Women More Likely Than Men To Report Feeling
Empathy For Those Suffering The Center recently asked Americans about
their thoughts and feelings regarding human suffering in light of the pandemic and other recent tragedies, finding
that women and men answered a few questions somewhat differently. Two-thirds
of women (66%) say that in the past year, they have personally thought “a
lot” or “some” about big questions such as the meaning of life, whether there
is any purpose to suffering and why terrible things happen to people,
compared with 55% of men who report the same. (PEW) JANUARY 28, 2022 More Adults Approve(46%) Than Disapprove (22%) Of U S
Diplomatic Boycott Of Olympics; Few Have Heard Much About It As the 2022 Winter Olympics begin later
this week in China, more Americans say they approve (46%) than disapprove
(22%) of the U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Games, while 31% are unsure. The
diplomatic boycott, announced by the Biden administration in
December to
protest Chinese human rights abuses, has captured little public attention;
about nine-in-ten U.S. adults (91%) say they have heard little (46%) or
nothing at all (45%) about it, according to a Pew Research Center survey
conducted Jan. 10-17. (PEW) JANUARY 31, 2022 Public’s Views Of Supreme Court Turned More Negative Before
News Of Breyer’s Retirement In a national survey by Pew Research
Center, 54% of U.S. adults say they have a favorable opinion of the Supreme
Court while 44% have an unfavorable view. The survey was conducted before
Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement from the court and President
Joe Biden reiterated his pledge to nominate the first Black woman to
the Supreme Court to
replace Breyer. Over the past three years, the share of adults with a
favorable view of the court has declined 15 percentage points, according to
the new survey, conducted Jan. 10-17 among 5,128 adults on the Center’s
American Trends Panel. (PEW) FEBRUARY 2, 2022 Black Women Account For A Small Fraction (2%) Of The
Federal Judges Who Have Served To Date Only 70 of the 3,843 people who have ever
served as federal judges in the United States – fewer than 2% – have been
Black women, according to a biographical database maintained by the Federal Judicial
Center, the research and education arm of the federal judiciary. That figure
includes single-race, multiracial and Hispanic or Afro-Latina Black women who
have served on federal courts governed by Article III of the U.S.
Constitution, including the Supreme Court, 13 appeals courts and 91 district
courts. It excludes appointees to non-Article III territorial courts in Guam,
the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands. (PEW) FEBRUARY 2, 2022 Debate On Gains And Losses Of Remote Education During COVID
19. Is Hybrid Model For Children? The Best Views From USA Evidence from a 2020 NewSchools Venture Fund/Gallup study suggests that the quality of digital
learning tools (websites, apps, online tutorials, online games and videos, or
programs used to teach and support student learning and schoolwork) may have
blunted the negative impact of remote schooling. These results are based on
web surveys conducted in July and August 2020, with 1,111 teachers, 2,345
parents and 1,088 students in grades three through 12. (Gallup) FEBRUARY 3, 2022 Academic, Emotional Concerns Outweigh COVID-19 Risks In
Parents’ Views About Keeping Schools Open, Only A Few (9%) Say School Should
Be Fully Online Amid a surge of COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant, a narrow majority of parents of K-12
students (53%) say schools in the United States should be providing a mix of
in-person and online instruction this winter, according to a new Pew Research
Center survey. Some 37% say K-12 schools should be providing in-person
instruction only, while just 9% say schools should be fully online. (PEW) FEBRUARY 4, 2022
Half (52%) Of Canadians Agree Government Should Enact A Tax
On Unvaccinated People A new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of
Global News reveals that this measure is divisive across the country - half
(52%) of Canadians agree (25% strongly/27% somewhat) that the government
should enact a tax on unvaccinated people, whereas another half (48%)
disagree with this measure. Those aged 55+, who are more likely to have
negative health effects from COVID-19, are more likely to be in support of
this measure compared to other age groups (58% 55+, 47% 18-34, 50% 35-54). (Ipsos Canada) 24 January 2022 AUSTRALIA Nearly Two-Thirds Of Australians (65%) Say January 26
Should Be Known As ‘Australia Day’ – Up 6% Points On A Year Ago There is quite a gender difference on the
question with men favouring January 26 being known as ‘Australia Day’ rather
than ‘Invasion Day’ by a margin of over 2:1 (70% cf. 30%). In contrast,
Australia’s women are more evenly split with a narrow majority of 60% in
favour of January 26 being known as ‘Australia Day’ compared to 40% saying it
should be known as ‘Invasion Day’. Support for saying January 26 should be
known as ‘Australia Day’ has grown for both genders compared to this time a
year ago. (Roy Morgan) January 25 2022 Inflation Expectations
Dropped 0.1% Points To 4.8% In December; Down From Seven Year High In
November Inflation Expectations are now 0.1% points
above the long-term average of 4.7% and a large 1.2% points higher than a
year ago in December 2020 (3.6%). A look at Inflation Expectations by
socio-economic quintile shows increases across the board since the measure
reached a low in August 2020 during Victoria’s second wave. Australians in
the highest ‘AB Quintile’ have experienced the largest increase since
mid-2020 with their Inflation Expectations rising 1.8% points to 4.1% in
December 2021. (Roy Morgan) February 01 2022 MULTICOUNTRY STUDIES Every Four-In-Ten Countries Worldwide Had Blasphemy Laws In
2019; A Survey Conducted In 198 Countries A new Pew Research Center analysis finds
that 79 countries and territories out of the 198 studied around the world
(40%) had laws or policies in 2019 banning blasphemy, which is defined as
speech or actions considered to be contemptuous of God or of people or
objects considered sacred. Twenty-two countries (11%) had laws against
apostasy, the act of abandoning one’s faith. The analysis draws on the
Center’s wider body of research on global
restrictions related
to religion. (PEW) JANUARY 25, 2022 On A Global Level, 80% Of The World Population Think
That Their Actions Can Help To Improve The Environment Global warming is an imminent phenomenon
worldwide, considered as a threat to
humanity by 86% of respondents (results remain similar to the
ones obtained in 2020). In the American and African continents, the
perception is higher (89% and 87%, respectively). Vietnam, Indonesia (both
with 96%), Paraguay and Peru (with 94% each) are the countries reporting the
highest number of citizens that consider global warming as a serious threat
for mankind. (WIN) 26 Jan 2022 Source: https://winmr.com/climate-change-and-sustainability-responsibility-and/ Eastern NATO Members Soured On Russia Long Before Ukraine;
According To A Study Across 14 Eastern European Countries And U S NATO and the U.S. on Wednesday rejected
Russia's demand to roll back the alliance's presence in 14 Eastern European
countries that became members after 1997. Since then, median approval across
the mostly former Eastern bloc countries has never topped 30%, and
disapproval has never dropped below 46%. In 2021, before the threat of a
Russian invasion of Ukraine, nearly half (49%) disapproved. (Gallup) JANUARY 28, 2022 Source: https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/389384/eastern-nato-members-soured-russia-long-ukraine.aspx The Ipsos What Worries The World Study Carried Out In
28 Countries, Indicates That Covid-19 Is The Main Concern For 35% Of The
World Population Covid-19 is the main concern for 35% of the
world population, on average, three points more than the previous month. The
data reflects an increase in concern about the pandemic after it stood at 28%
in November 2021, falling to third place in the ranking, the lowest level
since its inclusion in this study. However, the picture is more relaxed
than a year ago, when one in two people surveyed (50% on average) around the
world said that Covid-19 was their main concern. (Ipsos Spain) February 1, 2022 Should We Boycott The Winter Games In Beijing And The FIFA
World Cup In Qatar; A Survey Conducted In 5 Countries Nearly 7 out of 10 French people (66%) consider that it would
be unacceptable to organize an international sports competition in North
Korea. Similarly, Iran (59%) and Saudi Arabia (51%) are mostly contested
by the French. 59% of Britons and 57%
of French believe their country's players and sports teams
should boycott an international sporting event if it takes place in a country
with a poor human rights record. At the same time, we observe that a large
proportion of the population (between 18% and 27%) does not express an
opinion in the 5 countries covered by the study. (YouGov France) Source: https://fr.yougov.com/news/2022/02/03/boycott-competitions-sportives-internationales/ 19 Ways In Which Foreigners Have Been
Accused Of Abusing Italian Food, Study Carried Out In 17 Countries Late last year, YouGov compiled a list of
19 ways in which foreigners have been accused of abusing Italian food, and
asked people in 17 countries and territories (including Italy) whether they
were acceptable or unacceptable. Of the list of 19, Italians see no problem
with four: eating pizza for lunch (+89); having Bolognese sauce with
spaghetti (+81); eating pizza with a fork rather than your hands (+69); and
having meatballs with spaghetti (+58). (YouGov Sweden) February 3, 2022 Source: https://yougov.se/news/2022/02/03/italian-food-crimes/ What Impact Has Brexit Had On The EU; Yougov Asks 10
European Nations French and German people are most likely to
say Brexit has made no difference to the economy of the EU. Half (51%) of
Germans and half (50%) of French people say Brexit has had not made a
difference to the EU’s economy, while a quarter (26%) and a fifth (22%)
respectively say Brexit has made the EU’s economy worse off. Hungarians were
the only nationality polled who were clearly more likely to say the EU is
worse off economically as a result of Brexit than ‘no difference’, by 42% to
34%. (YouGov UK) February 03, 2022 A Survey Carried Out In 28 Countries Shows That The
Chinese, Hosts Of The Event, Are The Most (84%) Interested In The Competition A survey carried out by Ipsos shows that
47% of Brazilians are interested in the Beijing Winter Olympics, which will
be held in the Chinese capital starting next Friday, February 4th. In
addition to Brazil, citizens of 27 other nations were interviewed. The
interest of Brazilians in the sporting event follows the global average
(46%). The Chinese, hosts of this edition of the Games, lead the ranking:
84% responded in the affirmative. Then come India and South Africa – 70%
and 62%, respectively. (Ipsos Brazil) 4 February 2022 Source: https://www.ipsos.com/pt-br/47-dos-brasileiros-tem-interesse-pela-olimpiada-de-inverno-2022 ASIA
727-728-43-01/Polls Half Of
Urban Indians (55%) Follow The Budget, And Many More Agree It Impacts Their
Personal Finances
Ahead of Budget 2022 which will be
presented by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1st February 2022,
data from YouGov’s latest survey reveals three-quarters
(74%) of urban Indians agree that income tax is important for the country’s
economic development. Out of the surveyed respondents, currently,
55% claim to pay taxes while others do not. Among these taxpayers, three in
five (75%) agree to happily pay their income tax without any enforcement. Having said that, nearly two-thirds (65%)
of them are unhappy about the current tax structure in the country and a
higher proportion (77%) feels the tax structure should vary depending on a
person's economic status.
Data shows that about half of the urban
Indians follow the union budget every year (47%) and close to three in ten
(27%) follow it sometimes. Furthermore, two-thirds (67%) claim the budget to
have an impact on their personal finances. Respondents who self-identified as
middle class or upper-middle class are most likely to both follow the budget
and believe it has an impact on their personal income. People who
self-identified as poor and/or rich, tend not to follow the budget and
believe it has a lower impact on their personal incomes. 80% of the self-identified poor respondents
think a tax rate of 5% is fair for them to pay while 25% of the rest agree on
a tax rate of 10% as fair for them to pay. When asked about their expectations from
the upcoming budget, almost two in five (38%) urban Indians said they expect
the government to raise the income tax exemption limit to ₹5 lakh from
the current one. This was the leading expectation for people who identified
themselves as poor or middle class. About three in ten (31%) feel that the
overall tax exemption limit should be increased from the present 1.5 lakhs,
while a higher number (32%) wants the government to ease the tax burden on
the salaried class by increasing the limit of the standard deduction from the
existing Rs 50,000. Those aged 40 and above are most likely to have these
expectations as compared to the younger age groups. Keeping the pandemic and rising medical
expenses in mind, more than a third (35%) expect the Covid treatment-related
expenses to be made a separate item under tax deductions, while some (30%)
expect the finance minister to increase deductions for medical expenses under
80D.
Increased tax deduction on housing loan
interest is also an expectation of the salaried class in India.
Interestingly, millennials (32%) are most likely to expect this tax incentive
as compared to Gen X (28%) and Gen Z (19%). Paying income tax is a legal obligation for
citizens of the country but there are some professions (like farmers) that
are currently exempted from paying income tax. When asked about different
professions that should come under the ambit of taxation, about six in ten
(60%) urban Indians feel farmers should not pay any taxes, whereas 35% feel
they should be taxed like all other citizens. Likewise, in the case of armed forces, half
of the respondents in India feel that they should be exempted from paying
taxes, while 44% believe they should be subjected to taxation. As in the case
of police (64% vs 25%) and doctors (65% vs 17%), the numbers are higher for
those who feel they should be paying similar taxes as all citizens as
compared to those who feel they should be paying no taxes. Whereas for businessmen, that is thought to
be the richer class in India, more than half (51%) of the respondents are of
the opinion that they should be paying a higher income tax than other
citizens. Comparatively, a lesser proportion feels that they should be paying
the same tax as all citizens (37%) or should be paying no taxes at all (12%). (YouGov India) January 28, 2022 Source: https://in.yougov.com/en-hi/news/2022/01/28/half-urban-indians-follow-budget-and-many-more-agr/ 727-728-43-02/Polls Indian
Premier League Tops YouGov’s 2022 Sports Buzz Rankings In India Yet Again
The Indian Premier League tops YouGov’s 2022 Sports Buzz Rankings in India for the second year in
succession with a Buzz score of 50.8. Even in its 14th season and interrupted
by COVID outbreaks which forced it to relocate to the UAE – the IPL continues
to hold Indians in its thrall, creating a lot of positive Buzz. YouGov SportsIndex measures the public’s
perception of sports brands on a daily basis across a range of metrics. The
rankings in YouGov’s 2022 Buzz Report are based on the Buzz scores, which
measures whether respondents have heard something positive or negative about
a brand recently.
As India recorded its best-ever performance
in the Olympics with a haul of seven medals, including a gold, it’s
unsurprising to see the Olympics coming a close second (49.2) and making a
new entry in this year’s rankings. In fact, IPL only just pips the games by a
margin of 1.6 points. Even though India failed to qualify the
knockout stage, the ICC Cricket World Cup managed to secure the third-place
(45.9), but its buzz score recorded a slight decline (of -0.4) compared to
last year. FIFA World Cup also noticed a decline in its year-on-year score
and moved down one place to fourth (28.3). On the other hand, India’s indigenous
football league- the Indian Super League managed to hold on to its fifth
position (20.4), further cementing itself in the country’s sporting
landscape. The Pro Kabaddi League, however, recorded a drop of three places
to seventh compared to last year’s rankings (from 23.1 to 17.9). In the sixth spot is the Wimbledon
Championship with a buzz score of 18.0 and the Australia Open takes the tenth
(13) place. Finally, completing the top ten list for
India is the Asian Games and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), securing
the eighth(15.3) and ninth place (13.3), respectively. About YouGov SportsIndex SportsIndex is one of YouGov Sport’s
signature tools. It operates in 35 markets around the world, tracking 200 key
domestic and international competitions across more than 30 sports. A
core of 21 properties is tracked in every market, allowing for international
comparison. Many other events, leagues and tournaments appear in multiple
markets; while some competitions are tracked only in the country which hosts
them. In every market, YouGov takes a list of the
leading sports properties – a mix of domestic and international events,
competitions and leagues – and, based on 700,000 surveys annually, measures
the public’s perceptions of them. Every day, and for every property on our
list, we track 16 separate brand metrics, providing a treasure chest of data
for sports marketers and administrators. SportsIndex gives our clients the
capability to do everything from measuring the effect of yesterday’s news
headlines to establishing a season-on-season trend stretching back years. And
because it operates internationally, users can track and compare properties
across the world. Methodology The 2022 Buzz Report provides insight into
all the sports events we monitor against just one of the 16 metrics we
measure – ‘Buzz’. Every day, we ask 100 people these
questions... “Over the past two weeks, which of the
following sports events/leagues have you heard something positive about?” and
“Now which of the following sports/events leagues have you heard something
negative about over the past two weeks?” From the answers we collect, we derive a
Buzz score for each event. What’s a Buzz score? Our Buzz score is the difference between
the percentage of respondents hearing positive news and the percentage
hearing negative news about an event in the previous two weeks. So, depending
on what is going on, an event’s Buzz score can reveal whether conversations
around a property are positive or negative at a point in time. Here is a
graph charting the US Buzz score for the FIFA Women’s World Cup over 2018
which shows how this metric can change over time.
Buzz scores can range from +100 (where
everyone we asked has heard something positive) to -100 (where everyone we
asked has heard something negative). A completely neutral score, therefore,
would be zero. A score of 45 would show positive sentiment towards a
property, by a margin of 45 percentage points. For our Buzz rankings here, we look at the
highest average Buzz score each property has scored each calendar month. Then
we take the highest of those twelve scores and compare them with the highest
monthly scores of every other property we track in that market. We track up
to 80 properties in each country but for the sake of this report, we display
only the top ten in each market overall (typically a mix of domestic and
international). In addition, we show a top five or top ten ranking for each
market for those competitions hosted or held (in part or in their entirety)
in each market over the year. (YouGov India) Source: https://in.yougov.com/en-hi/news/2022/02/01/indian-premium-league-tops-yougovs-2022-sports-buz/ 727-728-43-03/Polls Three-Quarters
(76%) Of Singaporeans Who Typically Celebrate Chinese New Year Intend To
Proceed With Celebrations This Year, As Compared To Only 60% Last Year
Two years on from the very first reported
case of Covid-19 in the nation, Singapore’s Chinese New Year celebrations are
set to be a comparatively muted affair for the second year running, following
news that current safe management rules will stay in place during the festive
season. Latest data from YouGov shows three-quarters (76%) of Singaporeans
who typically celebrate Chinese New Year intend to proceed with celebrations
this year, as compared to only 60% last year. Their enthusiasm can perhaps be attributed
to the confidence in government’s handling of the current pandemic situation.
More than half feel current Covid-19 safety measures are sufficient (42%) or
should be loosened (12%). Among the various age groups, younger
respondents are more assured, with almost half (47%) of Gen Z respondents
sharing that they feel safe participating in the celebrations this year, and
only 8% feeling unsafe about the celebrations. The proportion of those who
feel unsafe increases progressively across the Millennial (12%), Gen X (12%),
Baby Boomer (15%) and Silent Generation (20%) groups, with the Silent
Generation expressing the most concern toward safety.
Talking about the way their preparations
have been affected due to the pandemic, close to two thirds of Singaporeans
who intend to celebrate (64%) said they plan to do less house visiting this
year, while half (49%) will host less visitors at home – a possible effect of
the cap of five unique house visitors a day to limit social gatherings. Traditional customs such as buying and
wearing new clothes or decorating one’s house for the festive season also
seem to have taken a hit, as less than half (45%) said they will spend less
on shopping for the season and one in three (31%) will reduce their spending
on decorations.
Another tradition that saw impact amid
Covid-19 was that of the giving and receiving of red packets, or ang pao. Among those who usually
celebrate the season, four in five (79%) intend to give out ang pao this year, similar to the
proportion last year (77%). Comparing against data collected last year,
a greater proportion of individuals will be giving red packets of the same
amount as usual (57% in 2022 versus 47% in 2021), and less will be giving red
packets of a smaller amount (20% in 2022 versus 28% in 2021). With more
reverting to giving usual amounts in their ang pao, this paints a brighter picture of financial recovery
among residents.
(YouGov Singapore) Source: https://sg.yougov.com/en-sg/news/2022/01/28/despite-rising-covid-cases-majority-singaporeans-l/ 727-728-43-04/Polls In The 21st
Month Of The Epidemic, The Practice Of Remote Working In Companies Continues
At A Rate Of Only 9% In Turkey
According to the data compiled from
white-collar employees; In the 21st month of the epidemic, the
practice of remote working in companies continues at a rate of only 9%. The
new working model, the hybrid working model, is applied in 8% of the
companies.
The working model foreseen at the end of
the pandemic is the flexible-time working model. It is thought that remote
and hybrid working models will be implemented in 10% of companies.
Considering the first 3 problems
experienced by the employees, it can be said that there is not much change.
Today, employee motivation is stated as an even more important problem.
Although the fringe benefits that employees
expect from companies have decreased considerably compared to May 2021,
white-collar workers who work remotely still have high expectations for
fringe benefits.
(Ipsos Turkey) 25 January 2022 Source: https://www.ipsos.com/tr-tr/iste-gelecek 727-728-43-05/Polls In Turkey, 3
Out Of 4 Employees Want To Find A Solution To The Cost Of Lives If They Could
3 out of 4 Employees Want to Find a
Solution to Cost of Living / High Inflation In the research carried out by the Ipsos
research company; When employees in our country are asked what they would
like to solve if they had the opportunity to solve a problem, 76% of them stated
cost of living and inflation. Despite the rapid increase in the number of
cases in the epidemic, the rate of those who say they would like to find a
cure for the epidemic is 16%.
1 in 2 Employees Think the Coronavirus
Outbreak Is Having a Negative Impact on Their Jobs In the "Coronavirus Epidemic and
Society" survey, which has been conducted weekly since the beginning of
the epidemic, only by the Ipsos research company in our country, at the end
of December, the rate of those who thought that the epidemic would have a
negative impact on their business was 43%, while this rate increased by 8
points to 51% in the last 1 month. It has risen to . The rate of those who
think that the epidemic will not have any effect on their business has
decreased by 5 points to 35%.
The Proportion of Employees Who
Stated That Their Caught or Contact with Covid-19 Caused Lack of Workforce
56% More than half of the employees
are of the opinion that the epidemic has a negative impact on the workforce.
45% of the employees state that there is a lack of workforce due to the fact
that the employees in the workplace are caught or in contact with Covid-19,
but it has no effect on production, while 11% state that it both causes a
lack of labor and negatively affects production.
50% of the Employees
find the Decision to End the Quarantine Period and Return to Work Without the
Requirement of PCR Tests for Those Caught Covid-19 at the End of 7 Days, and
60% of the Employees find the Decision of the Persons in Contact with These
Persons to Go to Work as long as they do not show any symptoms. Only 1/3 of the employees think
that the decision to shorten the quarantine period in the Corona virus
epidemic and not to ask for PCR test after the quarantine is correct. The
rate of those who think they found it wrong is 50%. And again, a similar
proportion of people are uncomfortable working in the same environment as
people who return to work in this way.
60% of the employees
do not feel comfortable with the decision to end the quarantine period at the
end of 7 days and to return to work without the need for a PCR test, and the
decision to allow people in contact with these people to go to work as long
as they do not show any symptoms. Gets Wrong The rate of those who think that
the decision to come to work if they have no symptoms is wrong is higher
(60%), and again, half of the employees state that they do not feel
comfortable being in the same environment with these people.
The Proportion of Employees Who
Have the Opinion that Those Who Returned to Work After These Decisions Have
No Effect on the Workforce 71% 7 out of 10 employees think that
returning to work after 7 days of Covid-19, or that people who are in contact
but do not have symptoms continue to come to work have neither a positive nor
a negative impact on their work force. Only 12% think that it has a positive
impact on the workforce.
Ece Ertürk, Qualitative and
Social Research Turkey Leader of Ipsos, made the following comments: Despite the many changing and
transforming dynamics of the pandemic itself, one of the most fundamental
things that does not change is its perceived negative effects on our lives.
In relation to the recent economic developments, 1 out of every 2 people in the
society started to think that the pandemic will have a negative impact on
their business life, with an increase of 8 points, especially in the past 1
month. One of the negative reflections on business life is the effect of the
epidemic on the workforce. Negative effects began to occur in the workforce
due to the fact that the employees were Covid-19 or were in contact; More
than half of the employees think that there has been a lack of labor in their
workplaces in the last 1 month due to the increasing number of cases and
contact status. However, although there is an increase in the rate of those
who think that the epidemic will adversely affect their business, the risk in
production capacity seems to have been managed, because a significant part of
them says that there was no loss of workforce due to the epidemic, or it
happened to such an extent that it did not affect production. While it is aimed not to
adversely affect the workforce and production, half of the employees think
that the decision to complete the quarantine period in 7 days and return to
work without a PCR test in line with the latest application changes is a
wrong decision, and half of the employees are uncomfortable working in the
same environment with people who return to work in this way. The fact that
employees who do not show symptoms despite being in contact can come to work
without quarantine creates dissatisfaction. Those who think that this
relaxation will have a positive effect on the workforce are also quite
limited. This relaxation and flexibility in business life is likely to put
employees in a more anxious and restless mood; For this reason, the
psychological effects of this issue and its effect on productivity should not
be ignored in the coming days. Because the concerns about the epidemic
continue, people are not comfortable working in the same environment with
their friends who have had a new illness or contacted them, according to the
relaxed quarantine procedure. While the dynamics in business
life continue in this direction, there is one very striking issue that
despite the epidemic, the most important agenda in Turkey is the economy; And
every issue is ultimately tied to the economy. The cost of living and the
desire to find a solution to inflation are by far the most important issue
for employees as well. When it comes to the economy, cost of living,
purchasing power, etc., we see that the problems brought about by the
epidemic have lost some of their importance. Even though it is a global
problem that affects life in many dimensions, such as an epidemic, the
economy is again and again at the top as the main issue that the society
expects a solution. These people, who are able to produce, would prefer to
fix the economy, not the epidemic, if there was only one chance. This will be
the test of our country in 2022. (Ipsos Turkey) 1 February 2022 MENA
727-728-43-06/Polls The Summer
Olympics Tops YouGov’s 2022 Sports Buzz Rankings In UAE
The Summer Olympics dethroned its nearest
rival FIFA World Cup in YouGov’s 2022 Sports Buzz Rankings in the UAE to become the sports
property with the most positive Buzz among the residents in the country
(39.9). The quadrennial mega-event outscored the FIFA World Cup (which now
holds the second position with a buzz score of 33.6) by more than six points. YouGov SportsIndex measures the public’s
perception of sports brands on a daily basis across a range of metrics. The
rankings in YouGov’s 2022 Buzz Report are based on the Buzz scores, which
measures whether respondents have heard something positive or negative about
a brand recently.
Formula 1 makes a strong showing to appear
in third place (23.6) in our ranking. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which took
place in December, was the deciding race for both the drivers’ and the
constructors’ championships. The winners were eventually determined by a
finish which saw Max Verstappen overtake challenger Lewis Hamilton on the
final lap in some hotly disputed circumstances. The FIFA Club World Cup is placed fourth
(23.5) in our ranking this year, losing out on third by just a tenth of a
point. The event was earlier scheduled to take place in Japan in 2021, had to
be shifted due to the Covid restrictions there, and is now finally happening
in the UAE in Feb 2022. The past year also looked favorable for
other football-related sports properties. The UEFA Champions League climbs up
one place to take the fifth position, recording a change in score of +2.9. LA
Liga takes the seventh (20.6) place, while the English Premier League makes a
new entry at ninth (19.1). Besides football, cricket leagues have also
featured prominently in this year’s rankings. ICC Cricket World Cup appears
at sixth (21.0) and ICC World Twenty20, which took place in the UAE, occupies
the tenth (19.0) place. Unfortunately, the Indian Premier League did not make
it to the top ten in 2021 (it came top in 2020), even though part of the
event was again hosted in the UAE following COVID outbreaks in India. Finally, the Dubai Marathon remains in the
eighth position (20.2) as last year and completes the top ten list in the UAE. About YouGov SportsIndex SportsIndex is one of YouGov Sport’s
signature tools. It operates in 35 markets around the world, tracking 200 key
domestic and international competitions across more than 30 sports. A
core of 21 properties is tracked in every market, allowing for international
comparison. Many other events, leagues, and tournaments appear in multiple
markets; while some competitions are tracked only in the country which hosts
them. In every market, YouGov takes a list of the
leading sports properties – a mix of domestic and international events,
competitions, and leagues – and, based on 700,000 surveys annually, measures
the public’s perceptions of them. Every day, and for every property on our
list, we track 16 separate brand metrics, providing a treasure chest of data
for sports marketers and administrators. SportsIndex gives our clients the
capability to do everything from measuring the effect of yesterday’s news
headlines to establishing a season-on-season trend stretching back years. And
because it operates internationally, users can track and compare properties
across the world. (YouGov MENA) February 1, 2022 Source: https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2022/02/01/summer-olympics-tops-yougovs-2022-sports-buzz-rank/ AFRICA
727-728-43-07/Polls Three-Quarters
(75%) Of Zambians Say The Previous Government Did A Poor Job Of Addressing
The Needs Of Young People
Most Zambians say the previous government
did a poor job of addressing the needs of young people, the latest Afrobarometer
survey shows. A strong majority of citizens also say they
would be willing to pay more taxes in order to support programs to help young people. If the government could spend more to help
youth, job creation and education would be Zambians’ top priorities for additional
investment. Key findings ▪ Three-quarters (75%) of Zambians
say the previous government did a poor job of addressing the needs of young people
(Figure 1). o The view that the government failed to
address youth needs is particularly common among rural residents (79%), less
educated citizens (79%), and poor respondents (83%) (Figure 2).
▪ Almost two-thirds (64%) of citizens
say they would be “somewhat” or “strongly” supportive if the government decided to
make people pay more taxes in order to support programs to help young people
(Figure 3).
▪ Job creation (39%) and education
(26%) would be Zambians’ top priorities for additional government investment to help
young people, followed by business loans (12%), social services (12%), and job
training (10%) (Figure 4).
(Afrobarometer) 24 January 2022 727-728-43-08/Polls Seven In 10
Moroccans (70%) Want The Government To Continue To Permit Foreigners And
Foreign Corporations To Set Up Retail Shops In The Country
Moroccans welcome open trade and see the
United States as the best model for the country’s development, according to the
latest Afrobarometer survey. Large majorities say that in order to
develop, Morocco must trade with other countries and allow foreign businesses to operate in
their country instead of protecting domestic producers from competition. They are divided as to whether the country
should fund national development through its own resources or rely on foreign loans. Key findings ▪ Two-thirds (65%) of Moroccans say
the country must rely on trade with the rest of the world in order to develop, including by
opening its borders to foreign imports (Figure 1). ▪ Seven in 10 Moroccans (70%) want
the government to continue to permit foreigners and foreign corporations to set up retail
shops in the country to ensure that citizens have a wide choice of low-cost consumer
goods (Figure 2). ▪ The United States is the most
popular model for the future development of Morocco, cited by 50% of respondents – three times
as many as prefer France and China (16% each) (Figure 3). ▪ Half (50%) of Moroccans say the
country should finance its development from its own resources, even if it means that citizens
pay more taxes, while 43% would instead use external loans (Figure 4). (Afrobarometer) 1 February 2022 727-728-43-09/Polls About One In
Four Adult Citizens (27%) In Namibia Report Having Received At Least One Dose
Of A Covid-19 Vaccine, According To The Survey In Late 2021
More than seven in 10 adult Namibians have
not been vaccinated against COVID-19, and a majority of the unvaccinated say they
are likely to stay that way, a recent Afrobarometer survey indicates. About one in four adult citizens (27%)
report having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the survey
in late 2021. Another 27% say they are at least “somewhat likely” to get vaccinated,
while 43% say they are unlikely to do so. Among those who say they probably will not
get vaccinated, distrust of regulatory agencies and the vaccine itself is by far
the most commonly cited reason. Vaccine hesitancy may have important
implications for the country’s vulnerability to future waves of infections as well as its economic
recovery, especially in the international tourism sector. Key findings ▪ As of October-November 2021, only
about one-quarter (27%) of adult Namibians say they have received one or more doses of a
COVID-19 vaccine (Figure 1). o Another 27% say they are “somewhat
likely” or “very likely” to try to get the vaccine. o More than four in 10 (43%) say they are
“somewhat unlikely” or “very unlikely” to try to get vaccinated. ▪ Among those who don’t see
themselves getting the jab, by far the most common reason (cited by 55% of respondents) is
that they do not trust that the vaccine is safe and effective (Figure 2). o One in 10 (10%) believe popular
misconceptions about the vaccine causing infertility or COVID-19 or being used to
track recipients. A further 10% are skeptical about the real extent of the risks
associated with contracting COVID-19. ▪ To date, uptake of COVID-19
vaccinations is particularly low among the youngest adults (17% of 18- to 25-year-olds). Fewer
women than men (23% vs. 31%) have received the jab. Namibians with a tertiary
education (40%) have nearly double the vaccine uptake of the rest of the nation
(Figure 3). (Afrobarometer) 3 February 2022 WEST
EUROPE
727-728-43-10/Polls The YouGov Big Survey On Drugs; Four In Ten Britons (40%) Think That
Uk Drug Laws Are Too Soft
Four in ten Britons (40%) think that UK drug laws are too soft, while
one in five (19%) think they are too strict, and a quarter (24%) think they
are about right.
Men are more likely than women to think that UK laws on drugs are too
strict (22% vs 15%). Younger Britons are also likely to see the drug laws as
being too strict: 30% among those aged 18-24, compared to 21% of 25-39 year
olds, and 12-17% among those aged 40 and older.
For the purposes of this study, we refer to soft drugs (such as
cannabis or speed) and hard drugs (such as cocaine or heroin). Three in ten Britons (30%) think that the possession of soft drugs such as
cannabis should be legal providing it is for personal use only. A third (33%)
think possessing soft drugs for personal use should be illegal but treated as
a minor offence, while a quarter (25%) say it should be a criminal offence. A political breakdown of the results shows that twice as many Labour
voters as Conservatives (41% vs 19%) back legalising the possession of soft
drugs. When asked whether selling soft
drugs should be legal, one in five Britons (19%) support this. Again, there
is a strong political divide here: 10% of Conservative voters support the
idea, compared to nearly a quarter (23%) of those who voted Labour. One in four (24%) think the sale of soft drugs should be illegal but
not criminalised, while nearly half of Britons (47%) think this should be a
criminal offence. Two-thirds of Britons (64%) who say they take hard/soft drugs think
that the sale of soft drugs should be legalised, while just 7% of them say it
should be a criminal offence.
Six percent of Britons think that possessing hard drugs – such as heroin or cocaine – for
personal use should be legal. Seven in ten Britons (70%) think that the possession of hard drugs
should be a criminal offence, with significantly more Conservatives (85%)
than Labour voters (60%) backing this. One in six (16%) say possessing hard drugs should be considered a
minor offence. Again, this view is shared more by Labour (24%) than
Conservative (7%) voters. A quarter of Britons who currently use hard/soft drugs (26%) say
possessing hard drugs should be legal, half (51%) think it should be a minor
offence, while 22% say it should be a criminal offence. The story is different when it comes to the issue of selling hard drugs: just 3% of
Britons support legalising this and 6% say it should be illegal but a minor
offence. Eight in ten (83%) think that the sale of hard drugs should be a
criminal offence. Overall, men are more likely than women to be more lenient when it
comes to the legality of drug possession and selling. Older Britons – those
aged 60 and above – tend to take a somewhat harder line on the issue than
younger age groups. (YouGov UK) January 24, 2022 727-728-43-11/Polls More Than A Third Of Britons Cannot Afford To Heat Their Home To A
Comfortable Level
The cost of heating is spiralling in the UK, with bills forecast
to rise
by 50% this year without government intervention. A new YouGov survey reveals that more than a third (37%) of Britons
say that, when it is very cold outside, they cannot afford to heat their home
to a level where they are comfortably warm. This group is made up of 28% who say they can heat their home to a
level where they’re warm, but not as warm as they would like to be, 7% who
say they can only afford to stave off the worst of the cold and 2% who cannot
afford to heat their home at all. Half (49%) of people from very low-income households (with a combined
income of less than £15,000 a year), say they cannot afford to heat their
home to a comfortable temperature when it is very cold outside. Of this, a
third (32%) say they can heat their homes to a level where they’re warm, but
not as warm as they would like, 11% who can stave off the worst of the cold
and 6% who cannot afford to heat their homes at all.
The proportion of people who say they can’t afford to heat their
homes comfortably falls as household income increases - however, a quarter
(25%) of those living in households making more than £50,000 a year still say
they can’t afford to heat their home to a temperature where they are
comfortably warm. The majority of Britons tend to avoid putting the heating on if they
feel cold – but men are more likely to put it on than women Just 16% of Britons say that putting the heating on, or turning it
up, would be the first thing they would do if they felt cold in their home
and were already warmly dressed. More than half (54%) would get a blanket before they turned the heating
up, while 49% would put another layer of warm clothes on and 46% would warm
up with a hot drink.
A fifth (22%) would get a hot water bottle, and the same proportion
would move around to try and warm up. Around one in six (17%) Britons would get
back into bed if they were feeling cold at home and one in 12 (8%) would use
a portable heater. Men and women cope with the cold differently – men are twice as
likely as women to turn the heating on straight away if they were warmly
dressed at home and they felt cold, by 22% to 11%. Women are much more likely
than men to say they would get a blanket (67% to 39%) or have a hot drink
(54% to 37%). In addition, while a third (32%) of women would get a hot water
bottle before putting the heating on, this figure is just 12% for men.
What reasons do Britons have for not putting turning the heating up
as their first solution for being cold? For people who don’t put the heating on first if they feel cold, the
majority are either actively trying to save money or can’t afford to keep
their homes warm. Half (51%) of those who said they would not put the heating on
straight away if they were cold say that, while they could afford to, they
would rather save the money. Another quarter (25%) say they can’t afford to heat
their home as much as they would like. Britons over 65 were twice as likely to say they can’t afford to heat
their home as much as they’d like to than those aged 18 to 24, by 30% to 15%.
Similarly, 50% of older Britons say they prefer to save money over putting
the heating on, compared to 40% of younger ones.
(YouGov UK) January 26, 2022 727-728-43-12/Polls 7 In 10 Britons Dissatisfied With Boris Johnson As Prime Minister
Ipsos’s latest Political Monitor, taken 19th to 25th January, shows
public satisfaction with Boris Johnson as Prime Minister continuing to fall,
with satisfaction levels now similar to some of his predecessors at their
lowest point. Leadership satisfaction – Johnson and past
PMs
Leadership satisfaction – Keir Starmer and
Ed Davey
Change of leadership?
Voting intention Labour is on 40%, up one point from December, the Conservatives 31%,
down three, the Liberal Democrats up two to 13%, and Greens also up two to
9%. Gideon Skinner, Head of Politics at Ipsos,
says of the findings: The damage to Boris Johnson in public
opinion continues as seven in ten Britons tell us they are unhappy with the
job he is doing as Prime Minister – another month-on-month fall. (Ipsos MORI) 27 January 2022 Source: https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/7-10-britons-dissatisfied-boris-johnson-prime-minister 727-728-43-13/Polls By 48% To 38% Londoners Think Sadiq Khan Is Doing Badly As Mayor
Almost a year into Sadiq Khan's second term as Mayor of London,
YouGov polling finds for the first time that Londoners tend think he's doing
badly (48%) rather than well (38%) in the job. Our previous survey in late
March/early April last year, prior to Khan’s re-election, had found Londoners
split, with 45% saying he was doing well versus 42% who thought he was doing
badly.
Looking at his current figures, in better news for the Mayor, Khan is
retaining support amongst 2019 Labour voters, with 52% saying he's performing
well compared to a third (33%) who say the opposite. This, however, is down
from last year when almost two thirds (64%) of Labour voters thought he was
doing well to 25% who thought badly. On three key issues we asked about – all within the Mayor of London’s
remit – Londoners also tend to think Khan is doing badly. Most capital
residents believe Khan is handling crime (60%) and housing (56%) poorly, and
by 49% to 40% they say the same of transport.
Perhaps more damaging for the Mayor is the fact 2019 Labour voters
also tend to disapprove of his handling of housing and crime, by 49% to 30%
in the case of the former and by 49% to 37% in the case of the latter.
Labour-voting Londoners do still tend to think Khan is doing well on
transport, however (52% vs 39%). In further bad news for Labour, their leader in Westminster fares no
better than their leader in City Hall. About as many Londoners think Keir
Starmer is doing badly in his job (47%), while even fewer (33%) think he is
doing well. Crucially, Starmer is retaining less support amongst 2019 Labour
voters than Khan, with similar numbers saying they think the Labour leader is
performing well as performing badly (42% to 41%).
When asked how Boris Johnson is doing as prime minister, just 21%
think he's doing well. Over three times as many (71%) say the PM is
performing badly in his role. Amongst 2019 Conservative voters in the
capital, approval of the prime minister’s job performance stands at 52% well
vs 43% badly. These figures, however, were collected prior to the party
scandal this week so there's potentially some worse news on the horizon for
Boris Johnson. As for the capital's Metropolitan Police Commissioner, more than
twice as many Londoners are disapproving of Cressida Dick (52%) than
approving (22%). (YouGov UK) January 27, 2022 727-728-43-14/Polls Nine In Ten NHS Workers Say Their Workplace Has Seen Staff Shortages
Due To COVID-19
As Boris Johnson and Sajid Javid press on with plans to roll back
COVID-19 restrictions, the NHS remains amidst a staffing crisis. While the
numbers of staff absent
due to COVID-19 have begun to fall in recent days, around 35,000
members of NHS staff remain off work each day due to COVID-19. This
compares to around 12,000 off as a result of the virus at the start of
December 2021. Now, a new YouGov survey of healthcare professionals reveals that 95%
of NHS staff say their workplace has been affected by staff shortages due to
COVID-19 recently. This includes nearly half (48%) who say their workplace
has been affected to a “great” extent and 37% affected to a “moderate”
extent. A mere 3% say they haven’t been affected by recent shortages.
While the vast majority of staff working across all types of trust
say they have been affected, those working in NHS hospitals are the most
likely to say they have been ‘greatly’ impacted (55%). This compares to 37%
of those in GP surgeries and health centres who say the same. Despite shortages easing somewhat, it was only two weeks ago
that members
of the armed forces were deployed to assist London NHS trusts
hard-hit by COVID-19. Some 48% of NHS workers in London report that their
workplace has been “greatly” affected, however, this figure is highest among
NHS workers in the North of England (55%). How is the NHS coping with staff shortages? Some 71% of NHS staff whose workplace has been affected by staff
shortages say that current staff are working overtime or extra shifts to make
up the missing hours. This figure rises to nearly four in five (79%) among
nurses and midwives. Additionally, 38% of staff say their workplace is bringing in agency
staff to cope with shortages, and a similar amount (36%) say staff are being
redeployed from nearby locations to assist. Some 18% say recently retired staff have returned to work to help plug
the gap. A further 9% say their workplace is using volunteers to fill
posts.
(YouGov UK) February 02, 2022 727-728-43-15/Polls One In Ten Brits Are Interested In The NFL
Ahead of Super Bowl LVI, we take a look at the level of interest in
the National Football League (NFL) in Britain and dig up some key insights
into this audience base. YouGov Profiles data tells us that almost one in ten
Brits (9%) are either somewhat interested in the NFL or say it’s one of their
top interests.
Promisingly for the League, historical Profiles data reveals that the
share of interested consumers has grown steadily since January 2020. The age split of this fan-base largely mimics the make-up of the
overall British population, but people aged 30-50 are somewhat more drawn to
the league. Two in five (39%) of those interested in NFL belong to that age
group, while they constitute 35% of the general population.
Another demographic insight is that almost three-quarters of NFL fans
are men (73%), who make up only 48% of the total British adult population.
This gender variance is somewhat less pronounced in the British fan bases of
other popular American sports leagues, such as the National Basketball
Association (67% male vs 33% female) and the MLB (68% male vs 32% female). But how does the fan-following of other big-ticket American leagues
compare against NFL on the whole? Our data shows that the NFL (9%) is
noticeably more popular than the NBA (4%), MLB (4%) and NHL (4%), each of
which draw interest from about one in 25 Brits. Most popular NFL players in Britain Seven-time title winner Tom Brady, who is mulling his future in the
sport, is the most popular NFL athlete among NFL followers in Britain. About
one in eight British NFL fans (12%) say he is one of their favourites.
Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes (9%) is second on the list and
features in the top five alongside Ron Gronkowski (6%), Aaron Rodgers (6%)
and Odell Beckham Jr. (5%). How can advertisers reach these fans? When compared to all sports followers (those who say they are “sports
mad” or that they “follow sports closely”), NFL fans are significantly more
likely to engage with billboard advertising. A quarter of them (26%) agree
with the statement “I often comment on things I have seen on posters and
billboards on social media” (vs 14% of general sports followers). A third of
them (32%) say they “often talk to my friends and family about things they
have seen advertised on posters or billboards” (vs 20% of sports followers). NFL fans (33%) are also likelier than the average British sports
follower (21%) to say they like to support their team by buying products from
the team’s sponsors. (YouGov UK) February 02, 2022 Source: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/sport/articles-reports/2022/02/02/one-ten-brits-are-interested-nfl 727-728-43-16/Polls Britons Lack Confidence In The Thoroughness, Independence And
Likelihood Of Disciplinary Action From The Metropolitan Police Investigation
Into Downing Street Parties
New research by Ipsos in the UK shows half or more of Britons are not
very confident, if at all, that the investigation currently being carried out
by the Metropolitan Police into the alleged breaking of Coronavirus
restrictions in Downing Street will be thorough, independent or result in
disciplinary action for any found to have broken the rules. Fieldwork was
carried out online 28-29 January, before Monday's update was released.
Levels of confidence are lower than when Britons were asked about their
expectations for the civil service (Sue Gray) inquiry (though note that fieldwork
was carried out on 18 January).
Only 4 in 10 (41%) are confident that the police investigation will
be thorough while half (52%) say they are not very confident or not at all
confident. In comparison, 51% were confident the civil service inquiry would
be thorough, 45% were not. Almost 6 in 10 (57%) are not convinced that the
police investigation will be independent, only a third (35%) are more
positive. When asked about the civil service inquiry 53% doubted it would be
independent, 42% were confident it would be. Almost two-thirds of Britons (65%) are not confident that this
investigation will lead to disciplinary action against any individual(s) who
are found to have broken the Coronavirus restrictions in place at the time of
the party. Just over a quarter (27%) have faith that appropriate disciplinary
action will be given as a result of the investigation. Britons were slightly
more likely (although still not very much) to expect disciplinary action from
the Sue Gray inquiry, 36% were confident this would be a result while 58%
were not. Conservative 2019 voters tend to have more confidence than Labour
voters, while women have less confidence than men that the results will be
thorough (by 37% to 44%) or will lead to disciplinary action (by 24% to 31%). Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research
at Ipsos in the UK, said: "We have seen the impact that stories
about parties breaking lockdown restrictions have had on public perceptions
of the Prime Minister and the Government, but with the announcement that the
Met Police is to open its own investigation there is not very much public
confidence that this will meet their expectations to be independent, thorough
and consequential either." (Ipsos MORI) 3 February 2022 727-728-43-17/Polls Wordle: Starter Words, Hard Mode And X/6 - How Are Britons Playing
The Hit Game
The game of the moment is Wordle, a simple pastime that gives players
six chances to guess a five-letter word, providing clues based on whether
they have guessed any correct letters and whether they are in the right
place. Wordle has made news all over the English-speaking world after
skyrocketing in popularity at the beginning of the year. The game began
simply as a private amusement made by New York-based software developer Josh
Wardle for his partner, before releasing to the public in October. The game
has since been bought
by the New York Times for $1.7m. Now a new YouGov Direct poll has asked more than 1,000 Wordle players
about how they play the game. One in twelve Wordle players get their fix
at midnight The fact that you can only play Wordle once per day has some
enthusiastic fans clicking on to the website at the stroke of midnight in
order to get their latest fix, leading to at least one
meme on the subject. Our survey shows that this midnight club constitutes
8% of British players. A further 29% get their daily Wordle game in before
work at 9am, while another 25% will have made their guesses before noon. One in three players claim to have achieved
a 2/6, while four in ten have seen the dreaded X/6 There is apparently a 1
in 2,500 chance of making a correct guess on your first go, although
guides for how to cheat at Wordle suggest that those who claim to have done
so should be treated with suspicion. Just 3% of our players claim to have reached the mythical 1/6 score,
but one in three (31%) claim to have got it in two. The most common top score
is 3/6, with 49% saying this is their best to date. While many Wordle players have achieved relative greatness with their
guesses, four in ten (43%) have suffered the humiliation of seeing their
sixth guess rejected.
Four in ten Wordle players use a starter
word, with ADIEU being the most popular In an attempt to give themselves the best odds, many players have
concocted a ‘starter word’ that they always use as their first guess,
generally consisting of as many vowels as possible but also common letters
like R, S and/or T. The results show that four in ten Wordle players (42%) are using a
starter word, with ‘ADIEU’ being the most common, followed by ‘AUDIO’,
‘RAISE’, ‘STARE’ AND ‘TEARS’.
Sharing Wordle is less widespread than you
might think from your Twitter timeline Key to Wordle’s success has been the way in which players can share
their results on social media. The innovative use of emoji to represent
performance without giving the word away has seen Twitter swamped with posts
containing grey, yellow and green blocks. The results show that 35% of British players have posted their Wordle
score to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook at least once, with
12% doing so most days or every day. Nevertheless, two thirds have managed to
keep their social feeds clear of their scores. People are more likely to share their scores with friends, family and
colleagues in messages and group chats, but even then half (51%) are not
imposing their scores on their fellow man. One in four (23%) always or most
times spread the word to their nearest and dearest. One Wordle a day isn't enough for a quarter
of players One of the aspects of Wordle that some claim make it so appealing is
the fact that it only provides one game per day. Many outlets have suggested
this to be a ‘calming feature’ that is needed in these pandemic times.
Allowing only one game per day prevents people from gorging on the game and
then discarding it, instead keeping them coming back for more the next day. Nevertheless, a sizeable minority of players want the rationing to end.
One in four (24%) say that they want Wordle to start giving more than one
game per day. Most of the remaining three quarters (72%) are happy to keep
the scarcity going, however.
A quarter of Wordle players are using 'hard
mode' in one way or another Unbeknownst to many, Wordle has a ‘hard mode’ option that only allows
players to guess words that contain letters they’ve already discovered. A
quarter of users play the game in hard mode, 7% who do so officially using
the function on the website, and a further 18% who informally enforce the
rule themselves.
Many British Wordle players look set to
still be caught out by use of American English Wordle’s 12 January solution ‘FAVOR’ caused outcry among British
players, many of whom had not realized that the game was using American
English rather than British English. The fact that the Wordle website uses a
.co.uk domain adds insult to injury in this case. The nation’s grief was so
strong that it even made
the news in the USA. That Wordle uses American English will be a nasty surprise to 24% of
players, for whom this news seems to have passed them by, and potentially for
the 27% who are unsure as well.
Double letters bug a third of players Wordle offers no indication that a word contains duplicate letters,
to the dismay of many players on 13 January upon discovery of the double-b in
‘ABBEY’. Some have complained that there should be some sort of indication
that a word is using a letter twice or more, a move which 29% of players want
to see introduced. Some 6% would go further still, saying that Wordle
shouldn’t use words that contain duplicate letters at all. Most (57%),
however, are happy to keep the current rules.
(YouGov UK) February 03, 2022 727-728-43-18/Polls Only 1 In 5 Think Boris Johnson Is Handling The Situation Between
Russia And Ukraine Well, But Few Think Keir Starmer Would Do A Better Job
As talks continue to try and stop Russia invading Ukraine, new
research by Ipsos shows 1 in 5 Britons think Boris Johnson has done a good
job of handling the ongoing situation (19%) while 2 in 5 (41%) think he’s
done a bad job. In comparison, a quarter (23%) say the UK Government has so far
handled the situation well while a third (33%) say they have done a bad job.
Thinking about how well President Job Biden has responded, 19% think he has
done a good job while 3 in 10 (29%) disagree. Despite an overall negative view of Boris Johnson’s response to the situation
in Ukraine, few believe the leader of the opposition would do a better job.
One in 5 (22%) say Keir Starmer would do a better job than the current PM in
responding to the situation between Ukraine and Russia, the same proportion
say Boris Johnson would so a better job than the leader of the opposition.
Among their own supporters, Boris Johnson receives more support. Half of 2019
Conservative voters say Johnson would do a better job while 42% of Labour
voters say Starmer would do better.
Considering what actions Britain should take should Russia invade
Ukraine, Britons are most in favour of diplomatic and economic sanctions
(40%) while around a third (36%) support humanitarian interventions, such as
supporting any Ukrainian refugees. Less than 1 in 5 (17%) would be in favour
of military intervention while 21% say Britain should not intervene at
all.
When thinking about the role played by the British military around
the world, a third (33%) of Britons say the British Armed Forces should intervene
abroad only when British interests are directly threatened. A similar
proportion (30%) say intervention should only take place when other people’s
rights and freedoms are threatened. One in 5 (22%) say British Armed Forces
should not intervene abroad and only be used to defend British
territory. Keiran Pedley, Research Director at Ipsos
in the UK, says: The public are twice as likely to think
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is doing a bad job handling the situation in the
Ukraine rather than a good one, which reflects his deteriorating poll ratings
of late. However, when asked to choose who would handle the situation better,
roughly equal numbers choose Starmer and Johnson, with more than half saying
neither or don’t know. in terms of the government’s response, there is
support for diplomatic and humanitarian efforts but little appetite for a
potential military confrontation with Russia. Some one in five think Britain
should not intervene at all. (Ipsos MORI) 4 February 2022 727-728-43-19/Polls 53% Of French People Say That The Prices They Have Paid In Recent
Weeks Generally Seem Higher Than They Were Six Months Ago
Inflation: The French feel the bill passing While the Ipsos Obs'COP 2021** study published last fall revealed
that the question of the cost of
living is now at the top of French people's concerns (57%,
+7pts compared to 2020), Ipsos unveils a new study on the perception of inflation
in 30 countries around the world, including France. A majority of
consumers around the world (59%) say the prices they have paid in recent
weeks generally feel higher than they did six months ago. A statement
shared by 53% of French people, particularly among 50-74 year olds (57%), and
annual incomes between €18,001 and €36,000 (56%). Note that globally: the 12 countries surveyed where prices are most
widely perceived to have increased include six Latin American countries, four Central and Eastern European
countries, Turkey and South Africa . In contrast, Japan
and China are the countries where consumers are least likely to say that the
prices they have recently paid are higher. Transport, charges, food: the three
expenditure items that have increased the most according to the French Which expenditure items have increased the most according to the
French? Unsurprisingly, transport (petrol,
car payment and maintenance, parking, public transport, etc.) comes first for
72% of respondents, closely followed by charges including electricity, gas, water, telephone,
internet (71% ), and food / drinks (66%). A
perception in tune with the reality of
consumer prices , whether for gasoline, energy or even food –
as seen recently with the price of baguettes. "Some French people realize that the increases were neither
media fiction nor reserved for others, are destabilized because they had not
anticipated them and did not imagine having to change their habits or their
"lifestyle", overestimating in particular their arbitrable
purchasing power. They may feel downgraded and frustrated because there
is no pleasure associated with the constrained expenses, most of which are
operating costs to access services (telephony, streaming, etc.) and represent
charges without immediate benefit, which can arouse resentment and
exasperation. » Yves Bardon, Flair Program Director, Ipsos Knowledge
Center. Concerning the other items of expenditure, the French are in the minority to perceive a
significant change in prices : they are 46% to observe
an increase in the price of clothing over the last 6 months (versus 55% of
the world population), 38% to find the price of their higher housing (against
51% on average on a global scale, ie 13 points less), the same goes for the
price of health services – where 73% of Argentines, for example, perceive a
rise in prices in this sector. Finally, 43% of French people have also
observed an increase in prices in the
entertainment sector , a figure again lower than the overall
feeling (49%). 4 out of 10 French people expect their
spending to increase in the next 3 months And things are not about to change according to the French: 40% of them expect their total household expenses to
increase over the next three months (“a lot” for 14% , “a
little” for 26%) while 44% say that they will not change and 16% that they
will decrease. A fear particularly shared by those under 35 (42%), and
average incomes (44%). “Inflation-induced price increases have a real impact on the election
period. They reduce the purchasing power of the vast majority and reveal
a new category of "surprised" French people, who find themselves
more vulnerable than they imagined in the face of rising prices and who join
those whose power to purchase was already fragile. This context can fuel frustrations and tensions if voters feel that
candidates remain on their ideological positions and principles and are
disconnected from their day-to-day economic realities. concludes Yves Bardon . (Ipsos France) January 24, 2022 Source: https://www.ipsos.com/fr-fr/les-francais-et-linflation-comment-la-percoivent-ils 727-728-43-20/Polls The French Are Pessimistic About The Benefits Of Artificial
Intelligence
Figures and key lessons from the study:
AI and the French: between ignorance and disbelief Ipsos questioned the French alongside 27 citizens of the
world on the confidence they can have in artificial
intelligence. Two-thirds of people around the world say they have a good
understanding of it (64%), but only half (50%) say they are familiar with
services and products that use AI. The French are only 50% to understand
what AI is (-14 pts compared to the global), and few (34%) have more
confidence in companies using AI (-16 pts compared to the world
average). One of the main reasons cited: lack of knowledge of products
or services that require artificial intelligence (only 34% of French people
say they know them, compared to 50% overall). It should be noted that geographical disparities are strong: the
proportion of inhabitants who believe they have a good knowledge of AI varies
from 41% in Japan to 75% in Russia, and those who say they know products and
services related to AI from 32 % in Japan to 76% in China. Overall,
trust in AI seems to be correlated with countries' understanding of
it: economically less developed countries are both the most confident
and those who think they understand best what it is. “The French are only 39% to consider that products and services using
AI make life easier, the lowest score among the 27 countries against at the
top 87% in China. This discrepancy testifies to the lack of familiarity
with AI applications in France and how much the Chinese already live with AI” Henry Wallard , Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ipsos Group. Can AI improve the daily lives of French people? If the French are less aware of what artificial intelligence is
compared to their neighbors, this directly impacts the way in which they
perceive its interest in their daily life. 45% of French people think
that products and services related to AI will profoundly change their daily
lives in the next 3 to 5 years (compared to 60% overall) and only 32% think
that this has already changed something (vs. 49% for the world
average). Note that it would have "simplified life" for 39% of
French people, ie 21 points less than the average of the other countries
questioned. In total, a third of French people (31%) think that products and
services using artificial intelligence have more benefits than disadvantages,
making France the least enthusiastic country on this point (52% overall)
. Almost 1 in 3 French people even say they are “concerned” about AI
(32%). Asked about the areas in which they think they will see changes
brought about by AI in the years to come, the French cite security first
(30%) . One French person out of four (25%) then thinks that it
will have an impact almost as important on the cost of living. A smaller
share (15%) also mentions changes in education, environment, family or
rights. But will AI have a positive or negative impact on the lives of French
people? As for the positive effects of AI, the French see possible
improvements thanks to it in the transport sectors (69%) as a
priority. Next come education and learning (63%), safety (61%), the home
(57%) and the environment (41%). The French are much more reserved about
the improvements it could bring to employment or the environment (41%), or
even the cost of living (34%) and rights and freedoms (28%) . (Ipsos France) January 26, 2022 Source: https://www.ipsos.com/fr-fr/les-francais-pessimistes-sur-les-benefices-de-lintelligence-artificielle NORTH
AMERICA
727-728-43-21/Polls A Majority Of U S Adults (61%) Are Optimistic That The
New Year Will Be Better Than The Year That Just Ended
Facing successive waves of the coronavirus and an uncertain economy,
the public enters 2022 largely dissatisfied about the way things are going in
the United States and fearful about the state of the nation.
However, a majority of U.S. adults (61%) are optimistic that the new
year will be better than the year that just ended, according to a new survey
from Pew Research Center. Public satisfaction with national conditions remains low. Just 21%
say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country, while
78% are dissatisfied. The share expressing satisfaction with the state of the
nation is down slightly since September (26%) and down 12 percentage points
since last March (from 33%). The new survey also finds that the
public’s views
of the national economy remain mostly negative and that majorities
continue to view the coronavirus as a major threat to the economy and public
health. Today, only small shares of both Democrats and Republicans (and those
who lean to each party) say they are satisfied with the way things are going
– though Democrats are nearly three times as likely as Republicans to have a
positive view (29% vs. 10%). For most of Donald Trump’s presidency, majorities of Republicans were
satisfied with national conditions, compared with fewer than a quarter of
Democrats. But by the summer of 2020, amid the spread of the coronavirus and
criminal justice protests, members of both parties were largely negative
toward national conditions.
Today, Democrats are far less satisfied with the way things are going
than they were last March (47% then vs. 29% today). Republicans’ already-low
level of satisfaction also declined from 17% to 10%. Americans continue to express negative rather than positive emotions
when thinking about national conditions these days. Majorities say they feel “fearful” (62%) and “angry” (55%) when
thinking about the state of the country. Fewer than half feel “hopeful,”
while just 20% say they feel “proud.” These views are largely unchanged since
November 2020, shortly after the presidential election, though the share
of adults who say they feel hopeful has declined (54% then vs. 46% today). Nearly identical majorities in both parties say they feel fearful
about the state of the country, though Republicans are more likely than
Democrats to say they feel angry, and much less likely to say they feel
hopeful. While Americans are dissatisfied with current national conditions, a
61% majority say they expect 2022 will be better than 2021. About four-in-ten
say they expect that 2022 will be worse.
Democrats are considerably more likely than Republicans to say the
coming year will be better (71% vs. 46%, respectively), though optimism among
this group has declined slightly since last year. (PEW) JANUARY 25, 2022 727-728-43-22/Polls Republicans And Democrats Alike View Russia More As A Competitor Than
An Enemy Of The U S
Amid tensions between the United States and Russia over a possible
military invasion of Ukraine, Republicans and Democrats are largely in
agreement about the threats posed by Russia, according to a new survey by Pew
Research Center. The survey was conducted Jan. 10-17, prior to the U.S.
putting troops on higher alert and NATO announcing that member countries
would be sending
military support to the region.
Overall, 49% of U.S. adults consider Russia a competitor of the U.S.,
while 41% say it is an enemy. Only 7% consider Russia a partner of the U.S.
Republicans and Democrats have similar views of Russia’s relationship
to the U.S.: Half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents regard
Russia as a competitor to the U.S., while 39% say it is an enemy. Among
Democrats and Democratic leaners, 49% view Russia as a competitor, while 43%
see it as an enemy. Small shares in both parties (9% of Republicans, 6% of
Democrats) say Russia is a partner of the U.S. The survey also finds that about a quarter of Americans (26%)
consider the Russian military buildup near Ukraine to be a major threat to
U.S. interests, while 33% say it is a minor threat to U.S. interests. Another
7% say it is no threat at all. A relatively large share (33%) say they are
not sure how Russian actions toward Ukraine affect U.S. interests. Views of Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine also do not differ
much by partisan affiliation. Similar shares of Republicans and Democrats
consider it a major threat (27% vs. 26%) or minor threat (36% vs. 33%) to
U.S. interests. Democrats (34%) are slightly more likely than Republicans
(28%) to say they are unsure how Russia’s military buildup will affect U.S.
interests. Public attention to the Russia-Ukraine tensions has, thus far, been
fairly limited. In the mid-January survey, 23% say they have heard a lot about
Russia’s military buildup, while 45% have heard a little and nearly a third
(32%) say they have heard nothing at all.
Nearly half (49%) of those who have heard a lot about the border
tensions say Russia’s military buildup is a major threat to U.S. interests,
compared with 26% of those who have heard a little and just 9% who have heard
nothing. Young adults and those who do not have a college degree are less
likely to have heard a lot about the crisis – and are more likely to say they
are not sure if Russia’s military buildup is a threat to U.S. interests. Americans who have heard at least a little about Russia’s increased
military presence along its border with Ukraine also are more likely to
consider Russia an enemy of the U.S.
About half of American adults who have heard a lot about Russia’s
military buildup along the Ukrainian border consider Russia an enemy of the
U.S. (53%), compared with smaller shares of those who have heard a little
(42%) or nothing at all (30%) about Russia’s actions. (PEW) JANUARY 26, 2022 727-728-43-23/Polls In U S, Women More Likely Than Men To Report Feeling Empathy For
Those Suffering
Research has suggested that the COVID-19
pandemic has had greater impacts on women in the
economy and the
home. In this period of turmoil, women also may be carrying a heavier
emotional burden than men, according to a Pew
Research Center survey.
The Center recently asked Americans about their thoughts and feelings
regarding human suffering in light of the
pandemic and other recent tragedies, finding that women and men
answered a few questions somewhat differently. Two-thirds of women (66%) say that in the past year, they have
personally thought “a lot” or “some” about big questions such as the meaning
of life, whether there is any purpose to suffering and why terrible things
happen to people, compared with 55% of men who report the same.
When seeing or hearing about terrible things happening to people,
women are much more likely than men (71% vs. 53%) to say they often feel sad
for those who are suffering. Similarly, a larger share of women (46%) than
men (34%) report often feeling the desire to help those suffering. And when
hearing about bad news, women are more inclined than men to say they often
feel thankful for the good things in their own lives (76% vs. 67%). While women are more inclined than men to report having these
feelings often, overwhelming majorities of men do say they experience these
things at least “sometimes.”
In response to terrible news, women also mention feeling news fatigue
more frequently than men. Around a quarter of women (27%), compared with a
smaller share of men (20%), often feel the need to tune out the news because
it’s just too much to take. And 79% of women – versus 64% of men – say they
at least sometimes feel
this way. The Center found a gender gap in the same direction on
a similar question about news fatigue in 2019. Upon learning of recent tragedies, women are also somewhat more
likely than men to say they often or sometimes feel worried that something
similar will happen to them (62% vs. 55%). Meanwhile, men are slightly more
inclined than women to confess they often or sometimes have feelings of schadenfreude – feeling happy “if
the person [who is suffering] seems to have deserved it” (37% vs. 31%). Does all this mean that women innately feel more empathy than men?
Some research points
in that direction, but other scientists
urge caution in attributing gender differences to biology. Gender gaps in belief in the afterlife,
supernatural The survey also finds that women are much more likely than men to
believe in an afterlife and supernatural forces.
Three-quarters of women, for instance, believe that everything in
life happens for a reason, compared with six-in-ten men. Similarly, women are
much more likely than men (51% vs. 35%) to believe in fate – that is, that
the course of their lives is predetermined. Meanwhile, nearly eight-in-ten women in the U.S. (78%) say they
believe in heaven, a full 10 percentage points higher than the share among
men. And women are more likely to express belief in reincarnation as well
(38% vs. 27%). These findings reflect the fact that in general, women
are more religious than men by a variety of measures. For
example, among
U.S. adults, women are substantially more likely than men to consider
religion very important in their lives. (PEW) JANUARY 28, 2022 727-728-43-24/Polls More Adults Approve(46%) Than Disapprove (22%) Of U S Diplomatic
Boycott Of Olympics; Few Have Heard Much About It
As the 2022 Winter Olympics begin later this week in China, more
Americans say they approve (46%) than disapprove (22%) of the U.S. diplomatic
boycott of the Games, while 31% are unsure. The diplomatic boycott, announced
by the Biden administration in December to protest Chinese human
rights abuses, has captured little public attention; about nine-in-ten U.S.
adults (91%) say they have heard little (46%) or nothing at all (45%) about
it, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 10-17.
The public’s views of China’s relations with the U.S. have changed
very little in the past year. Currently, 54% view China as a competitor of
the U.S., while 35% consider it an enemy. Just 9% say China is a partner of
the United States. Under a diplomatic
boycott, U.S. athletes can compete in the Winter Games, but U.S.
government officials or representatives will not attend. While some other
countries – including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Denmark – are
also diplomatically boycotting these Games, most
countries are not. The last (and only prior) time the U.S. took such an
action was the full
boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics in 1980, to protest the Soviet
Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. The USSR retaliated four years later,
barring its athletes from participating in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los
Angeles.
The small share of adults who have heard a lot about the diplomatic
boycott (9%) largely support the decision: 69% approve of the boycott,
including 47% who strongly approve of it. A majority of those who have heard
a little about it also approve of the boycott (62%), though just 27% strongly
approve. Only about half of those who have heard nothing about the boycott
offer an opinion. Republicans and Democrats have similar views of the U.S. decision to
forego diplomatic representation at the Winter Games. Half of Democrats and
Democratic-leaning independents approve of the decision, as do 45% of
Republicans and GOP leaners. A slightly larger share of Republicans and Republican leaners (26%)
disapprove of the U.S. diplomatic boycott compared with Democrats and
Democratic leaners (19%). About a third of both Republicans and Democrats are
not sure whether they approve of the boycott or not. Evaluations of U.S. relationship with China Americans’ views of China have grown much more negative in recent
years, according
to a survey conducted last year by Pew Research Center.
However, the public continues to view China more as a competitor than
as an enemy of the U.S. Unlike opinions about the diplomatic boycott of the
Winter Olympics, these attitudes are deeply divided along partisan and
ideological lines. About half of Republicans (52%) – including 62% of conservative
Republicans – consider China an enemy of the U.S. Among Democrats, just 22%
say China is an enemy of the U.S. while about three times as many (67%) say
it is a competitor. There are no significant ideological differences among
Democrats. (PEW) JANUARY 31, 2022 727-728-43-25/Polls Public’s Views Of Supreme Court Turned More Negative Before News Of
Breyer’s Retirement
The U.S. Supreme Court, which typically attracts only modest
attention from the American public, is about to occupy the national spotlight
with the possibility of a history-making change among the court’s justices
and a series of highly anticipated rulings on matters ranging from abortion
to gun policy.
The court enters this pivotal period with its public image as
negative as it has been in many years, as Democrats – especially liberal
Democrats – increasingly express unfavorable opinions of the court. In a national survey by Pew Research Center, 54% of U.S. adults say
they have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court while 44% have an
unfavorable view. The survey was conducted before Justice Stephen Breyer
announced his retirement from the court and President Joe Biden reiterated
his pledge
to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court to replace
Breyer. Over the past three years, the share of adults with a favorable view
of the court has declined 15 percentage points, according to the new survey,
conducted Jan. 10-17 among 5,128 adults on the Center’s American Trends
Panel. Looking back further, current views of the court are among the least
positive in surveys dating
back nearly four decades. The recent decline in favorability is due in large part to a sharp
drop-off among Democrats. Last year, about two-thirds of Democrats said they
had a favorable view of the court. Today, that number has fallen to 46%;
among liberal Democrats and Democratic leaners, just 36% view the court
positively, down from 57%. Favorable views among Republicans have also dipped
over the past few years, though are largely unchanged since 2021: Roughly
two-thirds continue to hold positive opinions of the court. Among the other findings from the new survey: Changing views of the court’s ideology. The
share of adults saying the Supreme Court is conservative has increased since
2020, from 30% to 38%. Still, more say the court is “middle of the road”
(48%), while 9% say it is liberal. A majority of Democrats (57%) say the
court is conservative, compared with 18% of Republicans. Majority says Supreme Court has the right
amount of power. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) say
the court has the right amount of power, but that has slipped since 2020
(from 65%) as more Americans – Democrats, in particular – say it has too much
power. Broad skepticism that justices are not
influenced by politics. Among the overwhelming
majority of adults (84%) who say Supreme Court justices should not bring their
own political views into the cases they decide, just 16% say they do an
excellent or good job in keeping their views out of their decisions. However,
both Republicans and Democrats are much more likely to say justices nominated
by presidents of their own party achieve this than do justices nominated by
presidents from the other party. Narrow majority of Democrats now view
Supreme Court unfavorably Over the past year, there has been a sharp decline in the share of
Democrats and Democratic leaners who hold favorable views of the Supreme
Court. In early 2021, roughly two-thirds (65%) said they had a favorable
opinion of the court. Today, that has declined 19 percentage points, and
Democrats are now more likely to have an unfavorable (53%) than a favorable (46%)
view of the court.
There has been a similar-sized drop among conservative and moderate
Democrats (19 points) and liberal Democrats (21 points). But while moderate
and conservative Democrats are about as likely to hold favorable as they are
unfavorable views of the court (53% vs. 46%, respectively), a clear majority
of liberal Democrats give the Supreme Court negative ratings (62% favorable
vs. 36% unfavorable). Since last year, Republicans’ views of the court have remained more
steady. In 2021, 67% of Republicans said they have a favorable opinion of the
court. Today, 65% say this. Over six-in-ten conservative Republicans and
moderate and liberal Republicans continue to hold positive views. Changing views of Supreme Court’s ideology,
power
The public is now seeing a more ideologically conservative court than
it did two years ago. In August 2020 – prior to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s
death and the subsequent appointment of Amy Coney Barrett – three-in-ten
adults said the court was ideologically conservative. Today, 38% of adults
say the court is conservative – an 8-point increase. Democrats’ perceptions of the court’s ideology have also shifted
considerably. In 2020, 47% of Democrats and Democratic leaners said the court
was conservative, with an identical share saying it was middle of the road.
Today, a majority of Democrats (57%) say the court is conservative – a
10-point shift. Among Republicans, there has been a 6-point shift. Today, 18% say it
is conservative, compared with 12% in 2020. Smaller shares now say the court
is either middle of the road or liberal. In the current survey, a majority of Republicans and
Republican-leaning independents – regardless of their ideology – say that the
court is middle of the road. Conservative Republicans are about twice as
likely as moderate and liberal Republicans, however, to say the court is
liberal (21% vs. 10%).
Ideological differences are much wider among Democrats and Democratic
leaners. A sizable majority of liberal Democrats say the court is conservative
(74%), compared with just 44% of conservative and moderate Democrats. Among
this group, about half (49%) say the court is middle of the road. Adults who have been more attentive to recent cases being heard by
the court are also more likely to say the court is conservative. About
two-thirds of those who have heard a lot about recent cases say the court’s
ideology is conservative, compared with a smaller share of those who have
heard a little (44%). Among those who have heard nothing at all, a large
majority say the court is middle of the road (60%). This pattern in attentiveness holds for both parties, though it is
particularly pronounced among Democrats. For example, a large majority of
Democrats who have read or heard a lot about recent cases being heard by the
Supreme Court say that the court is conservative (85%). This compares with
66% of those who have heard a little about these cases, and just 31% who have
heard nothing at all. While there have been increases in the shares of Republicans and
Democrats who see a conservative shift on the Supreme Court, partisans have
moved in opposite directions when it comes to views of the court’s power. Today, 58% of adults overall say the Supreme Court has the right
amount of power – smaller than the share who said this in August
2020. Larger shares of adults now say the court has too much power (25%
then vs. 30% today) or too little power (8% then vs. 11% today).
But Republicans and Democrats have diverged in views about the power
of the Supreme Court. Republicans have become less likely to say the court has too much
power – and more likely to say the court has either the right amount or too
little power. In 2020, about three-in-ten Republicans said the court had too
much power; today, 18% say this. Partisans agree Supreme Court justices
should not be influenced by politics, but differ over which justices do this A large majority of adults – regardless of their partisanship or ideology
– say that Supreme Court justices should not bring their own political views into how they
decide major cases. But there is more skepticism on whether justices are
living up to this ideal – and partisans are more likely to give justices
nominated by a president of their own party positive assessments than
justices nominated by the opposing party’s president.
Among the large majority of adults (84%) who say that Supreme Court
justices should not bring their own political views into how they decide
cases, just 16% say the justices are doing an excellent or good job in doing
so. A majority (57%) say they do only fair or poor, while 26% are not sure. Though neither Republicans nor Democrats say that justices are doing
a good job at keeping their political views out of cases, Republicans are
twice as likely as Democrats to say justices are doing a good job remaining
politically neutral (24% vs. 12%). However, Republicans and Democrats are much more likely to say that
justices nominated by their own party’s presidents are doing a better job at
keeping their political views out of decisions than justices nominated by the
opposing party. For example, among Republicans and Republican leaners who say
justices should not bring their own political views into how they decide
cases, 45% say that justices nominated by Republican presidents are doing at
least a good job in keeping their political views out of decisions. Just 12%
of this group say this about justices nominated by Democratic presidents. (PEW) FEBRUARY 2, 2022 727-728-43-26/Polls Black Women Account For A Small Fraction (2%) Of The Federal Judges
Who Have Served To Date
President Joe Biden has pledged to nominate
a Black woman to the Supreme Court seat being vacated by Justice
Stephen Breyer, who is retiring
from the court after nearly 28 years. If confirmed by the Senate,
Biden’s nominee would become the first Black woman ever to serve on the
nation’s highest court and one of a relatively
small number to serve as a federal judge at any level. Only 70 of the 3,843 people who have ever served as federal judges in
the United States – fewer than 2% – have been Black women, according to
a biographical
database maintained by the Federal Judicial Center, the research and
education arm of the federal judiciary. That figure includes single-race,
multiracial and Hispanic or Afro-Latina Black women who have served on
federal courts governed by Article III of the U.S. Constitution, including
the Supreme Court, 13 appeals courts and 91 district courts. It excludes
appointees to non-Article III territorial courts in Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands. The first Black woman ever to serve on the federal bench was Constance
Baker Motley, who was nominated by President Lyndon Johnson and took her
seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in
1966. Motley was the
district’s chief judge from 1982 to 1986 and died in 2005. The number of Black women appointed to the federal judiciary has
grown over time, especially during Democratic administrations. In fact, after
little more than a year in office, Biden has already appointed more Black
women to federal judgeships (11) than all but two presidents did during their
entire tenures. Democrats Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, who each served
eight years in the White House, appointed 26 and 15 Black women to the
federal judiciary, respectively.
Among Republican presidents, George W. Bush appointed eight Black
women during his eight-year tenure. George H.W. Bush and Donald Trump each
appointed two during their four years in office, while Ronald Reagan
appointed one Black woman in eight years. As previous
Pew Research Center analyses have found, Republican presidents have
generally been less likely than Democratic presidents to appoint federal
judges who are women or racial
and ethnic minorities. Biden also stands out when looking at the percentage of each president’s
appointed judges who have been Black women. As of Feb. 1, Black women have
accounted for around a quarter (24%) of Biden’s appointed judges – far higher
than the percentages for any other president, including Obama (8%) and
Clinton (4%). Historically, women have accounted for a relatively small share of
all Black federal judges. Fewer than a third of all Black judges ever
appointed (29%, or 70 of 239) have been women. Most of the Black women who have served as federal judges to date
have done so at the district court level. Only 13 have served at the
appellate court level – that is, the powerful regional courts that are one
step below the Supreme Court. If Biden’s nominee joins the Supreme Court, she would be its third-ever
Black justice (after Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas) and its
sixth-ever woman (after Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia
Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett). Overall, 115 justices have
served on the Supreme Court. (PEW) FEBRUARY 2, 2022 727-728-43-27/Polls Debate On Gains And Losses Of Remote Education During COVID 19. Is
Hybrid Model For Children? The Best Views From USA
One of the unfortunate consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic was that
it forced many children to learn from home. It is now well-documented that
remote learning resulted in substantial learning loss. The slowdown in
academic progress was especially pronounced among Black students, Latino
students and those from low-income households. Yet, evidence from a 2020
NewSchools Venture Fund/Gallup study suggests that the quality of
digital learning tools (websites, apps, online tutorials, online games and
videos, or programs used to teach and support student learning and
schoolwork) may have blunted the negative impact of remote schooling. Better
student outcomes -- including ease of learning from home, confidence in
schools' ability to provide high-quality education, and expectations for
learning progress -- are strongly associated with the quality of digital
learning tools, as reported by teachers, parents and students. These results are based on web surveys conducted in July and August
2020, with 1,111 teachers, 2,345 parents and 1,088 students in grades three
through 12. Student and parent responses were excluded if parents stated that
their child did no distance learning in the spring of 2020 (less than 1% of
the sample). The findings indicate that universal access to digital learning tools
will probably not generate gains for students nor equitable opportunities
across groups of students unless the tools themselves are of high quality. About one in five teachers, parents and
students rated their digital learning tools as "excellent," less
than the proportion who rated them as "fair" or "poor." The
preponderant response -- comprising roughly half of answers -- was that
digital learning tools were "good." There was remarkable
consistency across teachers, parents and students in providing these ratings.
Custom graphic. About one in five teachers (21%), parents (20%) and
students (20%) rated their digital learning tools in the spring of 2020 as
excellent, less than the proportion who rated them as fair or poor. Teachers working in schools with a higher
percentage of children from low-income households were less likely to rate
digital learning tools as "excellent" or "good" than were
teachers serving high-income students. In
general, schools with a higher percentage of children from low-income
families had lower-quality digital learning tools, according to their
teachers.1 When comparing teachers at schools with less than
25% of students meeting eligibility criteria for reduced-price lunch to those
with at least 75%, the gap in digital learning quality (using the share
reporting "excellent" or "good") was 10.9 percentage
points in favor of students from high-income households. This suggests that
students in low-income schools had less access to the most useful digital
tools.
Custom graphic. Teachers working in schools with a higher percentage
of children from low-income households, at 67.4%, were less likely to rate
digital learning tools used in the spring of 2020 as excellent or good than
were teachers serving high-income students, at 78.3%. Across teachers, parents and students, the
quality of digital learning tools is strongly associated with several
indicators of learning outcomes. These
indicators measure the reported ease of learning from home, confidence in
schools' ability to provide high-quality education, and expectations for
learning progress in the subsequent semester. When asked whether students found learning from home easy or hard
compared with learning at school, teachers, parents and students who reported
having high-quality learning technology were all more likely than those
without that digital advantage to consider remote learning "easy"
or "very easy." For instance, teachers who rated their digital
learning tools as "excellent" were 32 percentage points more likely
to say remote learning was easy or very easy, compared with teachers who
rated their digital learning tools as "poor." The gaps in ease of
learning reported by parents and students were 45 points and 13 points,
respectively. When asked about the upcoming fall semester of 2020, each group also
expressed greater confidence in their school's ability to provide
high-quality education when they reported having high-quality learning technology.
To illustrate, we looked at the percentages of respondents who expressed high
confidence in their school's ability (a "4" or "5" on a
five-point scale) among two groups: those who gave digital learning tools an
"excellent" rating and those who gave them a "poor"
rating. Confidence in school ability was 31 percentage points higher among
teachers who rated digital tools as "excellent" compared with those
rating them "poor." The effect was even stronger for parents (38 points)
and stronger still for students (44 points). Thus, across all groups,
optimism about their school's ability to provide high-quality education was
much higher when digital learning tools were perceived as high-quality. Likewise, when asked whether students would learn more, the same or
less than in a typical fall semester, each group was much more likely to
expect learning gains to be on par with the standards or even above them when
they rated digital learning tools as "excellent" compared with
"poor." In this case, the gaps for teachers, parents and students
were similar, at 28, 30 and 34 points, respectively. To rule out whether the association between quality digital tools and
educational outcomes simply reflects a bias toward positivity by certain
respondents, or household income levels, we conducted additional research to
test for those issues. Even when controlling for these factors, the results
didn't change. Thus, we have confidence that there is a robust association.
Details of this analysis are provided in the appendix. Overall, these results suggest a strong connection between learning
during the pandemic and the quality of digital learning tools. Moreover,
there is remarkable agreement on the important relationship between
technology and learning across students, parents and teachers. Taken at face
value, these results provide compelling motivation to identify the best
digital learning tools and make them more widely available. At the very
least, doing so would likely raise students' and their supporters' confidence
in making learning gains, boost expectations for exceeding standards, and
ease the difficulty of learning from home. Yet, there are several important limitations to this analysis, which
point to opportunities for further research to test these findings more rigorously.
The survey did not directly measure learning using objective, reliable
metrics -- such as performance on standardized tests. However, subjective
reports and expectations are often correlated with objective progress, so the
positive association between digital learning and actual learning would
likely hold using objective measures. Still, test score data would clarify
the strength of the relationship and allow for comparisons to other
well-studied interventions, like tutoring. The same measurement limitation applies to the subjective evaluation
of digital learning tools. These subjective measures should be considered
alongside objective specifications or specific software. In future studies,
researchers could ask students, parents and teachers to provide subjective
ratings of specific digital tools to study the relationship between the two.
Those data could then be used to identify the features of digital technology
that predict higher ratings. Beyond measurement challenges, another important limitation is that
the association between technology and learning cannot be confidently
interpreted as a causal effect because the quality of digital learning tools
is not randomly assigned. More ambitious social science research could
randomly assign students to use the highest-rated tools and test the effects
on objective learning outcomes. In the absence of those findings, the results here nonetheless should
motivate school administrators to solicit feedback from teachers, parents and
students about whether the digital tools they currently use are working for
them. Even with most districts providing full-time in-person schooling, the
quality of digital learning tools is likely to affect learning outcomes for
the foreseeable future.
Custom graphic. Better student outcomes -- including ease of learning
from home, confidence in schools' ability to provide high-quality education,
and expectations for learning progress -- are strongly associated with the
quality of digital learning tools, as reported by teachers, parents and
students. (Gallup) FEBRUARY 3, 2022 727-728-43-28/Polls Academic, Emotional Concerns Outweigh COVID-19 Risks In Parents’
Views About Keeping Schools Open, Only A Few (9%) Say School Should Be Fully
Online
Amid a surge of COVID-19 cases due
to the omicron variant, a narrow majority of parents of K-12 students (53%)
say schools in the United States should be providing a mix of in-person and
online instruction this winter, according to a new Pew Research Center
survey. Some 37% say K-12 schools should be providing in-person instruction
only, while just 9% say schools should be fully online.
When asked what factors schools should consider in deciding whether
to stay open for in-person instruction this winter, most parents of K-12
students say a lot of consideration should be given to the possibility that
students will fall behind academically (67%) or that their emotional
well-being will be negatively impacted (61%) if they don’t attend school in
person. Smaller shares cite parents not being able to work if their children
are home (52%), the risk to students or teachers of getting or spreading the
coronavirus (43% and 39%, respectively), and the financial cost to school
systems of following public health guidelines for safely keeping schools open
(26%). In July 2020, more K-12 parents said health risks to students (64%)
and teachers (61%) should be given a lot of consideration in decisions about
reopening schools than said the same about the possibility of students
falling behind academically without in-person instruction (54%). By February
2021 – when many schools that had been providing online instruction were
deciding whether to reopen for in-person instruction – six-in-ten parents
said academic considerations should be a major factor, while smaller shares
pointed to health risks to teachers (47%) or students (45%). As has been the case throughout the pandemic, views about how schools
should be handling instruction vary widely along party lines. Among parents
of K-12 students, Republicans and those who lean Republican (55%) are far
more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners (26%) to say schools should
be providing in-person instruction only this winter. A majority of Democratic
parents (64%) – compared with 39% of Republican parents – say schools should
be providing a mix of in-person and online instruction.
Republican parents are more likely than Democratic parents to say a
lot of consideration should be given to the possibility that students will
fall behind academically or that their emotional well-being will be
negatively impacted without in-person instruction. Republicans are also more
likely than Democrats to say parents not being able to work if their children
are home should be an important factor in these decisions. In turn, larger
shares of Democratic than Republican parents say the risk to teachers and
students of getting or spreading the coronavirus should be given a lot of
consideration. Views also vary across demographic groups. White parents (47%) are
far more likely than non-White parents (25%) to say schools should be
providing in-person instruction only this winter, while non-White parents are
about three times as likely as White parents to say schools should be fully
online (14% vs. 5%, respectively). (The non-White category includes parents
who identify as Black, Asian, Hispanic, some other race or multiple races;
these groups could not be analyzed separately due to sample size
limitations.)
Some 46% of upper-income parents and 43% of those with middle incomes
say schools should be in-person only, compared with 28% of lower-income
parents. Among lower-income parents, 16% say schools should be providing
online instruction only; just 7% of those with middle incomes and an even
smaller share of upper-income parents (2%) say the same. These differences reflect, at least in part, the factors parents say
should be given a lot of consideration in decisions about whether to keep
schools open this winter. Non-White parents are more likely than White
parents to say health risks to students (56% vs. 33%, respectively) and
teachers (50% vs. 31%) should be major factors. By contrast, White parents
(66%) are more likely than non-White parents (54%) to cite concerns that
students’ emotional well-being will be negatively impacted if they don’t
attend school in person. Similar shares of White (69%) and non-White (65%)
parents say academic concerns should be given a lot of consideration. Lower-income parents are more likely than those with middle or upper
incomes to say the risk to students of getting or spreading COVID-19 should
be given a lot of consideration in these decisions; those with upper incomes
are the most likely to cite concerns about academics and students’ emotional
well-being if they don’t attend school in person. Most parents of K-12 students say their
children are getting in-person instruction only While a majority of parents think K-12 schools should be offering a
mix of in-person and online instruction this winter, just 16% say this is the
type of instruction their children are currently getting. About seven-in-ten
(71%) say their children are getting in-person instruction only, while just
5% say their children are getting only online instruction. In
October 2020, a plurality of K-12 parents (46%) said their children were
getting online instruction only, while 20% said they were getting only
in-person instruction and 23% said there was a mix.
Upper-income parents are the most likely to say their children are
getting in-person instruction only: 84% say this in the new survey, compared
with 77% of those with middle incomes and an even smaller share of those with
lower incomes (58%). About one-in-ten lower-income parents (9%) say their
children are getting online instruction only, while 23% say their children
are getting a mix of in-person and online instruction. Just 3% of K-12
parents with middle incomes and 2% of those with upper incomes say their
children are getting only online instruction, while about one-in-ten in each
group say they are getting a mix. (PEW) FEBRUARY 4, 2022 727-728-43-29/Polls Half (52%) Of Canadians Agree Government Should Enact A Tax On
Unvaccinated People
With the recent announcement that Quebec will be imposing a health
tax on unvaccinated people, who account for a large proportion of COVID-19
hospitalizations, a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News reveals
that this measure is divisive across the country - half (52%) of Canadians
agree (25% strongly/27% somewhat) that the government should enact a tax on
unvaccinated people, whereas another half (48%) disagree with this measure.
Those aged 55+, who are more likely to have negative health effects from
COVID-19, are more likely to be in support of this measure compared to other
age groups (58% 55+, 47% 18-34, 50% 35-54). Regionally, those in Saskatchewan/Manitoba and Quebec are more likely
to agree that the government should enact a tax on unvaccinated people (59%
SK/MB, 58% Quebec, 53% BC, 52% Atlantic Provinces, 49% Ontario, 44% Alberta). As restrictions remain in place across the country and elective
surgeries continue to be postponed, it is perhaps unsurprising that Canadians
want further restrictions specifically for unvaccinated people. A majority
(67%) agree (36% strongly/31% somewhat) that government should enact further
restrictions on unvaccinated people. Men (72% vs 62% women), those aged 55+ (77%, 58% 18-34, 64% 35-54),
and those with a university education (76% Univ Grad, 69% HS, 53% <HS, 64%
Post Sec) are more likely to agree that the government should enact further
restrictions on those who are unvaccinated. Regionally, those in Saskatchewan
and Manitoba are more likely to agree (77% SK/MB vs. 76% Atlantic Provinces,
67% Quebec, 67% Alberta, 64% BC, 64% Ontario). If people want to remain unvaccinated, half (51%) of Canadians agree
(21% strongly/31% somewhat) that we should provide other ways to accommodate
them through testing and other measures. Younger Canadians (59% 18-34, 53%
35-54 vs 44% 55+) and those who have less than a high school education (68%
<HS, 53% HS, 47% Post Sec, 44% Univ Grad) are more likely to agree that we
should provide other ways to accommodate those who remain unvaccinated. There
is no regional difference, meaning that this remains an equally-controversial
issues across the country. To what extent do you agree or disagree
with the following: % Strongly/Somewhat Agree
One in five (21%) Say They Would End Their
Friendship with Someone Who Does Not Share Their Views on Vaccination Feelings of anger and frustration have grown towards unvaccinated
people, and Canadians are expressing these sentiments through personal
choices. One in five (21%) say they would end their friendship with someone
who does not share their views on vaccination. Men (25% vs 17% women) and
younger Canadians (28% 18-34, 17% 35-54, 20% 55+) are more likely to end a
friendship due to their vaccination frustration. As we near year three of the pandemic, half (49%) blame those who are
unvaccinated for the pandemic not being over. Men (55% vs 44% women) and
those aged 55+ (55% 55+, 44% 18-34, 47% 35-54), and those with a university
education (59% Univ Grad, 33% <HS, 49% HS, 49% Post Sec) are more likely
to agree. Canadians appear to be treating those who are vaccinated differently
from those who are not – three quarters (73%) say they would welcome a
vaccinated person into their home, no questions asked. On the flip side,
slightly less than four in ten (36%) would do the same for an unvaccinated
person. Slightly more (39%) would welcome in an unvaccinated person into
their home if they took a rapid test, but most Canadians remain wary of
letting an unvaccinated person into their home. Those residing in Alberta, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces are
more likely to agree that they would welcome an unvaccinated person into
their home, no questions asked, compared to those residing in Ontario (46%
Alberta, 44% Quebec, 41% Atlantic, 37% BC, 31% SK/MB, 28% Ontario). Notably, over a quarter (28%) say they would not allow anyone into
their home unless they took a rapid test. Men (32% vs 25% women) and older
Canadians (32% 55+, 31% 35-54, 23% 18-34) are more likely to agree with this
statement. Regionally, there is no difference. It has been argued by some that taxing the unvaccinated is a slippery
slope – if we tax unvaccinated, why not tax smokers of heavy drinkers, for
example. Similar to half (52%) who agree that the government should enact a
tax on unvaccinated people, a slim majority (52%) of Canadians also agree
that those who are not vaccinated should pay a $100 user fee for each day
they are hospitalized due to COVID-19. In fact, more Canadians are in favour
of charging unvaccinated Canadians a per-day user fee at the hospital than
those who are smokers (37%) and heavy alcohol drinkers (34%). Once again, men (56% vs 48% women), older Canadians (58% 55+, 54%
35-54 vs 42% 18-34), and those with a university education (61% Univ Grad,
31% <HS, 49% HS, 57% Post Sec) are more likely to agree that those who are
not vaccinated should pay a $100 user fee for each day they are hospitalized
due to COVID-19. Most Canadians (89%) say they have voluntarily shared their
vaccination status with family, friends, co-workers, or their employer. Older
Canadians are more likely to say they shared their vaccination status than
younger Canadians (94% 55+ vs 86% 18-34, 86% 35-54). Thinking about unvaccinated Canadians, to
what extent do you agree or disagree with the following:
(Ipsos Canada) 24 January 2022 AUSTRALIA
727-728-43-30/Polls Nearly Two-Thirds Of Australians (65%) Say January 26 Should Be Known
As ‘Australia Day’ – Up 6% Points On A Year Ago
Men clearly favour ‘Australia Day’ on January 26, but Women
are more evenly split There
is quite a gender difference on the question with men favouring January 26
being known as ‘Australia Day’ rather than ‘Invasion Day’ by a margin of over
2:1 (70% cf. 30%). In
contrast, Australia’s women are more evenly split with a narrow majority of
60% in favour of January 26 being known as ‘Australia Day’ compared to 40%
saying it should be known as ‘Invasion Day’. Support
for saying January 26 should be known as ‘Australia Day’ has grown for both
genders compared to this time a year ago. Australians under 35 favour ‘Invasion Day’ while those over
35 favour ‘Australia Day’ The
results of this survey are heavily correlated to age with Australians under
25 in favour of January 26 being known as ‘Invasion Day’ by a margin of
almost 2:1 (64% ‘Invasion Day’ cf. 36% ‘Australia Day’). Their
slightly older counterparts aged 25-34 are also in favour of the day being
known as ‘Invasion Day’ but by a much narrower margin of 54% cf. 46%. However,
people aged 35+ are increasingly likely to say January 26 should be called
‘Australia Day’ rather than ‘Invasion Day’. Almost two-thirds of people aged
35-49 are in favour of ‘Australia Day’ (65% cf.35%) and this margin increases
substantially for those aged 50-64 (75% cf. 25%) and 65+ (85% cf. 15%). Support
for saying January 26 should be known as ‘Australia Day’ has grown across all
age groups over the last year, increasing by the most for people aged 35-49
(up 11% points to 65%) and increasing the least for people aged 25-34 (up 1%
point to 46%) – and still in a minority point of view for that age group. L-NP & ALP supporters favour ‘Australia Day’ whereas
Greens supporters favour ‘Invasion Day’ L-NP
supporters favour January 26 being known as ‘Australia Day’ rather than
‘Invasion Day’ by a margin of over three-to-one, 76% cf. 24% - while almost
two-thirds of ALP supporters favour ‘Australia Day’ (65%) cf. ‘Invasion Day’
(35%). In
contrast, a majority of Greens supporters are in favour of January 26 being
known as ‘Invasion Day’ (56%) rather than ‘Australia Day’ (44%). Supporters
of Independents and Others, including Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, and Clive
Palmer’s United Australia Party, are in favour of January 26 being known as
‘Australia Day’ (68%) compared to only 32% that say it should be known as
‘Invasion Day’. Over 60% of people in all States are in favour of January
26 being known as ‘Australia Day’ Over
three-fifths of people in all six States favour January 26 being known as
‘Australia Day’ instead of ‘Invasion Day’. Support for ‘Australia Day’ is
strongest in Queensland (68% cf. 32%), New South Wales (67% cf. 33%) and
Western Australia (66% cf. 34%). Support
for the date being known as ‘Australia Day’ is slightly lesser in South Australia
(64% cf. 36%), Tasmania (62% cf. 38%) and Victoria (62% cf. 38%). Support
for January 26 has increased the most from a year ago in Victoria, up 12%
points to 62% and New South Wales, up 10% points to 67%. In
contrast, support for January 26 being known as ‘Australia Day’, has
decreased in Western Australia, down 10% points to 66% and Tasmania, down 8%
points to 62%. There
is something of a divergence between Australia’s Capital Cities and those in
Country Regions on the question. A rising majority of 63% of people in
Capital Cities say January 26 should be known as ‘Australia Day’ compared to
37% opting for ‘Invasion Day’. In Country Regions the difference is far
starker with over two-thirds (69%) saying the day should be known as
‘Australia Day’ compared to 31% for ‘Invasion Day’. “Nearly two-thirds of Australians (65%) have thrown their
support behind January 26 being known as ‘Australia Day’ – and support is
stronger than a year ago across many key demographics. “Over two-thirds of men (70%) and three-fifths of women
(60%) say January 26 should be known as ‘Australia Day’ – both of which have
increased from a year ago. All Australians aged 35+ as well as solid
majorities in all six States also prefer ‘Australia Day’ to the alternative
of ‘Invasion Day’. “Supporters of both major political parties also say
January 26 should remain as ‘Australia Day’ including 76% of L-NP supporters
and 65% of ALP supporters – in line with the national average. “However, there are significant demographics in which a majority
of people would prefer the date was known as ‘Invasion Day’. Most notably
these include young people under the age of 35. Almost two-thirds of people
aged 18-24 (64%) and a narrow majority of 54% of people aged 25-34 say the
date should be known as ‘Invasion Day’. “This result is replicated for supporters of the Greens –
a clear majority of 56% say it should be known as ‘Invasion Day’. Greens
supporters were also the most likely to suggest neither name was appropriate
for the day with just over one-in-seven (15%) saying a new name was needed. “When people are asked why they hold these views
supporters of the date being known as ‘Australia Day’ say the date is a
positive and inclusive day to bring everyone together in celebration of the
country, they refer to the date marking the beginning of the story of modern
Australia and reject the notion that there was anything resembling an
invasion begun on that day. “For those who say that January 26 should be known as
‘Invasion Day’ they say the date marks the beginning of the invasion of
Australia and the oppression, dispossession, abuse and genocide of the
indigenous people of this continent. They also point out that the date does
not signify the birth of the nation of Australia, but rather the birth of an English
penal colony and point out that there are other more unifying dates that
should be considered to move away from the divisiveness of this date.”
This
special Roy Morgan Snap SMS survey was conducted with an Australia-wide
cross-section of 1,372 Australians aged 18+ on the weekend of Friday January
21 – Sunday January 23, 2021. Of those surveyed 4% of respondents suggested
neither or something else for the day. Question 1:
On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip landed at
Sydney Cove. In your opinion should January 26 be known as Australian Day or
Invasion Day?
On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip landed at
Sydney Cove. In your opinion should January 26 be known as Australian Day or
Invasion Day?
For
the 65% of Australians who say January 26 should be known as ‘Australia Day’
the key themes to emerge were that Australia Day is a positive day for
everyone to celebrate this country, because it was not an ‘invasion’ but a
‘colonisation’, because it’s the day that marks the beginning of what became
known as Australia and because that day has always been celebrated that way
and should continue to be. Many
people supporting Australia Day say it’s a positive and inclusive day for
everyone to celebrate this country.
Many
respondents referred to the fact the day marks the beginning of what became
known as Australia..
There
are also many people who say the day has always been celebrated as the
national day and should continue to be celebrated as such going forward….
Many respondents
who call the day ‘Invasion Day’ refer to the beginning of a genocide of
Australia’s indigenous people and ‘massacres’, atrocities, dispossession,
abuse and oppression against them…
Another
theme to emerge was that many said the date of January 26 does not refer to
when Australia became a country (January 1, 1901), but rather when the
country became a British colony….
There
was an additional slice of people who acknowledged how the day is regarded by
many and argued that it was time to move on from such a divisive date and
find a new one to celebrate……..
(Roy
Morgan) January
25 2022 Source: https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8882-roy-morgan-survey-australia-day-january-25-2022-202201250330 727-728-43-31/Polls Inflation Expectations Dropped 0.1% Points To 4.8% In December; Down
From Seven Year High In November
Inflation Expectations are now 0.1% points above the long-term
average of 4.7% and a large 1.2% points higher than a year ago in December
2020 (3.6%).
Inflation Expectations by Socio-Economic
Quintile: August 2020 cf. December 2021
Inflation Expectations are higher in
Country Areas (5.0%) than Capital Cities (4.7%)
Inflation Expectations Index long-term
trend – Expected Annual Inflation in next 2 years
See below for a comprehensive list of RBA interest rate changes
during the time-period charted above. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the
rapid increase in Inflation Expectations over the past year-and-a-half paused
in December as a run of six straight monthly increases came to an end: “Inflation Expectations were at 4.8% in
December 2021, just above the long-run average of 4.7%. This result
represented a fall of 0.1% points from the seven-year high of 4.9% reached in
November 2021 but the measure is still up 1.2% points from a year ago in
December 2020 and up 1.6% points since reaching a low point of only 3.2% in
August 2020. “There has been much talk in recent months
about increasing inflation forcing the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to
raise interest rates for the first time in over a decade. The last interest
rate increase was way back in November 2010 when the RBA lifted rates by
25bps to 4.75%. “However, the RBA has pushed back on the
suggestion it should raise interest rates in the next few months and claims
there is no urgency to do so until wage inflation in Australia increases
significantly. “According to the latest ABS quarterly Consumer Price Index Australian
inflation rose 3.5% over the 12 months to December 2021 and was up 1.3% in the quarter. Although this
is one of the higher CPI readings of recent years it is still below the
annual rate of 3.8% reached in the 12 months to June 2021 and only half the
current rate of inflation in the United States at an annual pace of 7%. “It’s worth noting that despite the
official inflation readings being twice as high in the USA as they are in
Australia the Federal Reserve has not commenced raising interest rates yet
and is still supporting the US economy by buying around $60 billion USD of
bonds – a significant monthly stimulus. “In Australia the RBA is currently
purchasing $4 billion AUD government securities a week to support the economy
in addition to the record low interest rates. The comparison between the two
countries shows that it appears unlikely the RBA will be increasing interest
rates anytime soon and according to their own statements they don’t expect to
do so until late 2023 at the earliest. “The moderation of Inflation Expectations
in December may only prove short-lived however it does show there is no
guarantee the measure will continue to increase in 2022 as supply chain
‘bottlenecks and blockages’ are likely to be progressively resolved during the
next few months. “The extremely contagious ‘Omicron variant’
of COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the Australian economy over the last 5-6
weeks but has already peaked in mid-January and is beginning to rapidly
recede. This compares to the spread of the Delta variant which circulated in
the community for several months at a relatively high level while much of the
population was unvaccinated. “In Australia there is the added
uncertainty surrounding this year’s Federal Election. Most analysts expect
the election to be held in May 2022 although it is possible the election
could be delayed until September 2022 if the half-Senate and House of
Representatives elections were split for any reason. “The latest Roy Morgan Poll shows the Morrison Government is
starting the year well behind the Opposition with the ALP 56% well ahead of
the L-NP 44% on a
two-party preferred basis.”
The questions used to calculate the Monthly
Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations Index. The Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations Index is a forward-looking
indicator unlike the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and is based on continuous
(weekly) measurement, and monthly reporting. The Roy Morgan Inflation
Expectations Index is current and relevant.
(Roy Morgan) February 01 2022 Source: https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8891-australian-inflation-expectations-december-2021-202202010333 MULTICOUNTRY
STUDIES
727-728-43-32/Polls Every Four-In-Ten Countries Worldwide Had Blasphemy Laws In 2019; A
Survey Conducted In 198 Countries
Apostasy and blasphemy may seem to many like artifacts of history.
But in scores of countries around the world, laws against apostasy and
blasphemy remain on the books – and many are enforced to various degrees.
A new Pew Research Center analysis finds that 79 countries and
territories out of the 198 studied around the world (40%) had laws or
policies in 2019 banning blasphemy, which is defined as speech or actions
considered to be contemptuous of God or of people or objects considered
sacred. Twenty-two countries (11%) had laws against apostasy, the act of
abandoning one’s faith. The analysis draws on the Center’s wider
body of research on global restrictions related to religion. These laws were most common in the Middle East and North Africa,
where 18 of the 20 countries (90%) in the region have laws criminalizing
blasphemy and 13 of them (65%) outlaw apostasy. In Saudi Arabia, an
Indian national was charged with blasphemy in 2019, fined, and
sentenced to 10 years in prison for tweeting criticism of Muhammad and Allah,
as well as of the Saudi government. Blasphemy laws were on the books in 2019 in all five global regions
covered by the analysis, including 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, 17 in
the Asia-Pacific region, 14 in Europe and 12 in the Americas. In one instance
in Indonesia, a Roman Catholic woman was detained on blasphemy charges
for bringing
a dog into a mosque. And in Sri Lanka, a
playwright was questioned by authorities after a Buddhist monk
alleged his work was blasphemous. Among the 79 countries that criminalized blasphemy, penalties varied
widely, from fines to prison sentences and in some cases lashings and execution.
In some countries – such as Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria,
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia – violations of blasphemy laws can carry the
possibility of the death penalty, according to sources used for this
analysis. In Pakistan, at least 17 individuals were sentenced to death on blasphemy
charges in 2019, including a university lecturer accused of having insulted the
Prophet Muhammad verbally and on Facebook, although the Pakistani government
has never actually executed anyone for blasphemy. Some blasphemy laws came off the books in 2019. In New Zealand, a
long-standing blasphemy law was repealed
in 2019 after media in the country reported that it had not been
enforced since 1922. Greece also repealed
its blasphemy law in 2019, following campaigns against it by human
rights activists. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the Supreme Court in 2019 upheld
the acquittal of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who had been sentenced
to death for blasphemy, sparking violent protests and calls to execute her.
And in Indonesia, the government had considered
a bill to expand the criminalization of blasphemy but ultimately
delayed it following protests by civil society groups. In some countries, including Pakistan, Trinidad
and Tobago, and Barbados,
blasphemy laws date to their periods of British rule. While citizens in
Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago did not face criminal penalties for
blasphemy charges in 2019, the number of blasphemy charges increased from
2018 to 2019 in Pakistan. Apostasy laws were less common around the world than blasphemy laws
in 2019, existing in just 22 countries and in only three of the five regions
studied. Most of the countries with apostasy laws were in the Middle
East-North Africa region (13). Seven were in the Asia-Pacific region, and two
in sub-Saharan Africa. As of 2019, there were no apostasy laws in existence
in Europe or the Americas.
Penalties for abandoning one’s faith also tend to vary depending on
the country. In Algeria,
people who convert from Islam to another religion are unable to receive
inheritances. In 2019, Brunei implemented
a law that allows death sentences for apostasy from Islam. Refer to the “How we did this” box to view
the full list of countries with blasphemy and apostasy laws as of 2019. (PEW) JANUARY 25, 2022 727-728-43-33/Polls On A Global Level, 80% Of The World Population Think That Their
Actions Can Help To Improve The Environment
Global warming is an imminent phenomenon worldwide, considered as a threat to humanity by 86% of respondents (results
remain similar to the ones obtained in 2020). In the American and African
continents, the perception is higher (89% and 87%, respectively). Vietnam,
Indonesia (both with 96%), Paraguay and Peru (with 94% each) are the
countries reporting the highest number of citizens that consider global
warming as a serious threat for mankind. As a consequence of global warming, 8 out of 10 respondents believe that natural disasters (forest
fires, floods, hurricanes, typhoons, etc.) have increased. Perception in America and APAC (84% and 81%,
respectively) is even stronger and, among countries, the Vietnamese, Mexicans
and Peruvians top the ranking of those who think that climate change and
natural disasters go hand in hand. Time Left to Fight Climate Change Compared to last year’s survey, the hope that climate change can
still be stopped shows a slight drop (from 54% to 52%), but the perception
remains positive, considering more
than half of the population think there is still time to fight it. Women are
the most optimistic (52%), and the same happens with America and Europe (57%
and 55%, respectively) where people think it isn´t already
too late to curtail climate change. However, population of APAC (49%) and
MENA (48%) differ from this perception and are more negative about it. Within
countries, perception also varies: the most optimistic countries are Brazil
(70%), Mexico (67%), Denmark (66%), Indonesia and Paraguay (64%, each), while
the pessimists are China (38%), Pakistan (34%) and India (31%). Personal Actions and Individuals’
Responsibility On a global leve, 80% of the
world population think that their actions can help to improve the
environment (slightly lower than last year, but the outlook
remains encouraging). This attitude is held, in a large percentage, by
Americans (86%) and Africans (81%). Countries like Paraguay (95%), Colombia
(92%), Peru, Indonesia and Brazil (each with 91%) are more optimistic about
the positive impact of their actions, while Japan (62%), Palestinian
Territories, China, Germany and Poland (with 68% each) consider it to a
lesser extent. Governments and Companies’ Responsibility
Efforts in sustainability and the environment can come from different
sides, but a vast majority, 70% of
respondents, think that governments and companies must try harder than
individuals. This perception grew slightly (+3) compared to 2020
(67%). Although men (71%) and women (69%) agree on this, men tend to demand
more action from authorities than women. Countries like South Korea (83%),
Thailand and Lebanon (82%, each) believe, in a higher percentage, that
governments and companies should act towards protecting the environments,
more than individuals. To take care of the environment, it is necessary to have on board all
actors in society (people, government, private institutions, etc.).
However, more than half of the
respondents (51%) feel that the government is not taking the necessary
actions to protect it. This may be due to the distrust public institutions
are experimenting or to the lack of projects related to environment
protection. Europeans and Americans
are the most critical (65% and 62%, respectively) thinking
that their governments are not taking the necessary actions. Croatia (83%),
Greece (74%), Finland (73%), Serbia and Paraguay (72% each) are the most
critical countries with the government. On the other hand, Vietnam (4%),
Indonesia (8%) and the Philippines (12%) perceive the opposite. Willing to Pay More for Eco-Friendly Products Currently, several companies are taking action and making their
products environmentally friendly. People (7
out of 10) are willing to recognize these efforts by paying more for
eco-friendly products, as a way of contributing, and helping the environment.
Women are willing to pay more for these products more so than men (70%).
Respondents from Africa and America (both with 72%) would pay more for
products that respect the environment. Citizens from Vietnam (95%), Paraguay
(90%), India (88%), Indonesia (80%) and Peru (79%) show higher support to
these initiatives. (WIN) 26 Jan 2022 Source: https://winmr.com/climate-change-and-sustainability-responsibility-and/ 727-728-43-34/Polls Eastern NATO Members Soured On Russia Long Before Ukraine; According
To A Study Across 14 Eastern European Countries And U S
NATO and the U.S. on Wednesday rejected Russia's demand to roll
back the alliance's presence in 14 Eastern European countries that became
members after 1997. The idea likely would have gained little traction in
those countries, where Russia's leadership has been highly unpopular since it
annexed Crimea in 2014. Since then, median approval across the mostly former Eastern bloc
countries has never topped 30%, and disapproval has never dropped below 46%.
In 2021, before the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, nearly half
(49%) disapproved.
Line graph. Median levels of views of Russian leadership among NATO
members in Eastern Europe. In 2021, a median 49% of the public disapproved of
Russia's leadership, while a median 27% approved and 25% did not know or
refused to answer. The latest approval ratings of Russia come from surveys in Eastern
Europe in 2021, mostly before the Russian government began massing large
numbers of troops on the Ukrainian border in October 2021. After nearly two months of heightened tensions between Russia and
Ukraine and Ukraine's NATO allies, the Russian government issued a series of
demands to deescalate the situation. Key among the demands was the withdrawal
of NATO forces and equipment from any country that was part of NATO's
enlargement since 1997. From 2009 through 2013, levels of disproval for Russia's leadership
had been substantially lower among NATO members in this region, not exceeding
36% median disapproval. However, disapproval shot up 22 percentage points in
2014 following Russia's annexation of Crimea early that year. Disapproval Varies Across Eastern European
NATO Members While there is a median of 49% disapproval for Russia's leadership
across NATO members in Eastern Europe, it is not monolithic. Of the 13
Eastern European NATO members that Gallup was able to poll in 2021, seven are
at or near majority-level disapproval for Russia's leadership. Those 13
countries include the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia and North
Macedonia. Russian Leadership Disapproval in Eastern European NATO Countries,
2013 vs. 2021 ** Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of the leadership
of Russia?
Disapproval of Russia's leadership is highest in Poland, where 79% of
adults disapproved in 2021. That level of disapproval is 28 points higher
than it was in 2013 before the annexation of Crimea. Current levels of disapproval are also particularly high in two of
the three Baltic states, Estonia at 56% and Latvia at 49%. Disapproval in
both countries is 10 and 11 points higher than in 2013, respectively. Estonia
and Latvia -- and Lithuania -- have sent weapons to Ukraine to support the
country against a potential Russian invasion. In three of the largest Eastern European NATO member countries,
disapproval of Russian leadership remains substantially below majority
levels, with Hungary at 39%, Romania at 37% and Bulgaria at 33%. Disapproval of Russia's leadership remains well above where it was
before the annexation of Crimea. In both Hungary and Bulgaria, levels are 21
points higher in 2021 than in 2013, while in Romania, the level of
disapproval is 10 points higher than where it previously stood. Bottom Line After the fall of the Soviet Union, NATO expanded membership to many
of the countries formerly in the Soviet sphere in Eastern Europe. The Russian
government has consistently claimed that the presence of NATO forces in these
countries is a threat to Russia's security and that the U.S. had previously
pledged not to expand the alliance into the area. Gallup has previously found that most
NATO member countries in the region have seen the alliance as protection rather
than the threat that Russia portrays, while those in former Russia and other
former Soviet states outside of Eastern Europe were more likely to see it as
a threat. The Russian government would clearly like to remove or severely
downgrade NATO's presence near its western border, and the country's most
recent demands are aimed squarely at doing so. The demands were handed over
to the U.S. government, suggesting that Russia sees the U.S. as the primary
arbiter of NATO policy. While the U.S. arguably plays an outsized role in the
alliance, other member countries retain a voice in their own defense and
security policies. Both the U.S. and NATO, in general, have rejected Russia's demands
that forces and equipment be withdrawn from these countries. Current levels
of disapproval for Russia's leadership among the Eastern European members of
NATO strongly suggest these countries would support maintaining NATO's
presence in Eastern Europe. (Gallup) JANUARY 28, 2022 Source: https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/389384/eastern-nato-members-soured-russia-long-ukraine.aspx 727-728-43-35/Polls The Ipsos What Worries The World Study Carried Out In 28
Countries, Indicates That Covid-19 Is The Main Concern For 35% Of The World
Population
The Omicron variant has spread rapidly
around the world and has become the dominant variant of the coronavirus . Although
the evidence indicates that the disease it generates is less serious, the
truth is that its spread is much faster than the previous variants. For
this reason, and with the aim of trying to stop this rapid spread, Pfizer and
BioNTech have announced the start of a
clinical trial of a modified vaccine against Covid-19 that could protect
against Omicron. However, due to the fact that infections
continue to increase, concern about
the coronavirus grows, and it is consolidated as the first concern worldwide . This is the main conclusion that emerges from the last wave in
January of the Ipsos What Worries the
World study carried out in 28 countries, which indicates that
Covid-19 is the main concern for 35% of the world population, on average,
three points more than the previous month. The data reflects an increase
in concern about the pandemic after it stood at 28% in November 2021, falling
to third place in the ranking, the lowest level since its inclusion in this
study. However, the picture is more relaxed than a year ago, when one in
two people surveyed (50% on average) around the world said that Covid-19 was
their main concern. For its part, in Spain,
despite the fact that the figures begin to point to a slight decrease in
infections, concern about Covid-19 is increasing among the population, and
stands at 41%, 8 points more than the month above and 6 points above the
global average (35%). However, according to the Public Health
Commission, vaccination with the booster dose must now be delayed up to five
months after overcoming the infection, because Health and the communities
state that infections by the omicron variant increase the response of memory
cells and enhance immunity. This significant increase in the incidence
has also had notable consequences in the context of health. In this
sense, concern about health care also grows among the Spanish population and
rises 7 points compared to the previous month, positioning itself, with 35%,
as the third main concern for citizens Poverty and inequality and unemployment,
the next concerns on the list Poverty and social inequality
rank as the second biggest global concern this month ,
with 31% of the world's population, on average, citing it as the number one
issue facing their country today. In third position is the concern about unemployment ,
shared by 28% of the world's population, on average. In fact,
unemployment continues to be the main concern for the population of Spain and
Italy which, with 53%, lead the ranking of the European countries in which
this issue is most worrying. Further behind are Hungary (23%), Belgium
and Sweden (both with 15%). In fourth position is concern about political and financial
corruption, shared by 27% of global citizens, on average. And, in fifth
place, completing the list of the five main concerns worldwide, are crime and
violence which, with an average of 26%, have remained unchanged during the
last four months. Next on the list are health care (23%), inflation
(20%), taxes (16%), education, and climate change (both at 15%). Are we moving in the right direction? The population, in addition to being worried, has the perception that
things, in general, are not going well. According to the Ipsos report,
globally, only 37% of people surveyed,
on average, believe that things are moving in the right direction . On
the contrary, there continues to be a large majority, which has remained
stable since last year with an average of 63%, who believe that things are
going in the wrong direction in their country. For its part, the majority of the Spanish population considers that
things in their country are getting worse (63%), compared to 37% who think
that they are on the right track, data that coincide with the global
average. Poland (79%), France (72%) and Hungary (68%) head the list of
the most pessimistic European countries, while Germany, with 52%, is the only
country on the old continent in which the majority of the population believes
that things are evolving favorably in the country. (Ipsos Spain) February 1, 2022 727-728-43-36/Polls Should We Boycott The Winter Games In Beijing And The FIFA World Cup
In Qatar; A Survey Conducted In 5 Countries
For which countries is the organization of international competitions
deemed unacceptable? To what extent are the populations in favor of the
boycott? Discover below the results of a Eurotrack study carried out in
January 2022 in 5 countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Great Britain. Nearly 7 out of 10 French
people (66%) consider that it would be unacceptable to
organize an international sports competition in North Korea. Similarly,
Iran (59%) and Saudi Arabia (51%) are mostly contested by the French. To note :
Human rights More than 4 out of 10 French
people (41%) find that international sports institutions are
too willing to work with undemocratic governments. However, 85% of
French people consider it important that international sports institutions
take into account a country's human rights record when deciding to organize
events there. Opinions on the boycott 59% of Britons and 57% of
French believe their country's players and sports teams
should boycott an international sporting event if it takes place in a country
with a poor human rights record.
At the same time, we observe that a large proportion of the
population (between 18% and 27%) does not express an opinion in the 5
countries covered by the study. Who should make the decision whether or not
to boycott an international sporting event? 55% of French
people consider that this decision rests with the national federations of the
sports concerned, 26% with the government and 17% with the teams and the
players themselves. (YouGov France) Source: https://fr.yougov.com/news/2022/02/03/boycott-competitions-sportives-internationales/ 727-728-43-37/Polls 19 Ways In Which Foreigners Have Been Accused Of Abusing Italian
Food, Study Carried Out In 17 Countries
A 2018
YouGov survey found that Italian cuisine is the world’s most
popular. While that may prove a point of pride for Italy, a new international
YouGov survey shows that elsewhere in the world many people are treating the
cuisine in ways that will make Italians weep. Late last year, YouGov compiled a list of 19 ways in which foreigners
have been accused of abusing Italian food, and asked people in 17 countries
and territories (including Italy) whether they were acceptable or
unacceptable. Of the list of 19, Italians see no problem with four: eating pizza
for lunch (+89); having Bolognese sauce with spaghetti (+81); eating pizza
with a fork rather than your hands (+69); and having meatballs with spaghetti
(+58). Figures shown are net results,
with positive numbers meaning more people say it as acceptable than
unacceptable, while negative numbers mean more people consider it
unacceptable than acceptable. Another four are divisive to Italians: having risotto as an appetiser
or side dish (+2); putting oil in the water you are cooking your pasta in
(+1); snapping dry spaghetti before boiling it (-1); and adding plain pasta
to a plate or bowl and then adding the sauce afterwards (-4).
All of these are generally considered ok everywhere else in the
world, however, although Spaniards (-18) and online Mexicans (-17) tend to be
against snapping dry spaghetti prior to boiling. But 11 culinary concepts from the list are judged by Italians to be
crimes against their national cuisine. The most distressing abuse of Italian food is having ketchup with
pasta, scoring -82 overall. This is one of only two food crimes from the list
that Americans also say is unacceptable (-48), with Spaniards similarly
against (-46). However, in 11 of the countries and regions surveyed, people tend to
say that pasta and ketchup is perfectly fine, with online Indonesians (+76)
and Hong Kongers (+79) especially enthusiastic. Putting pasta in cold water and then boiling it also drives a knife
through Italians’ hearts at -71, making it the second biggest violation of
Italian cuisine. This proves to be the most disdained practice around the
world as well, with just online Chinese (+16) and Hong Konger (+31)
respondents noticeably likely to say they think doing so is acceptable. Americans again tend to see this as a crime against Italian food
(-14), although it is far more likely to bother people in Spain (-41), France
(-39) and Germany (-39). Having pineapple on a pizza – the basis for the infamous ‘Hawaiian’
pizza – is the third worst thing you can do to the national cuisine,
according to Italians (-63). Only in France, however, do people tend to
disagree (-15). Having pasta as a side dish bothers the fourth most Italians (-55)
but marks the worst thing to Italians that people in all other countries and regions
surveyed say is ok. Poles are the least likely among the rest of the world to
say it is acceptable, but even here it scores +26 overall. The French are the
most enthusiastic about having pasta as a plat d'accompagnement, at +74. Other practices that are frowned upon in Italy but generally accepted
everywhere else are rinsing or cooling off cooked pasta under cold water;
drinking cappuccino after an Italian meal; and having garlic bread with a
pasta meal. Young and old Italians are at odds over
some food rules The results show shifting generational attitudes within Italy towards
national culinary practices. The biggest comes with drinking cappuccino after
a meal, something which 18-24 year old Italians tend to think is fine (+24),
but which older age groups – and especially the over 55s (-36) – say is
unacceptable. Young Italians are also substantially more likely than their older
peers to say that having garlic bread with a pasta meal, adding plain pasta
to a plate or bowl and then adding the sauce afterwards, and having risotto
as an appetiser or side dish are ok. At the same time, younger Italians seem to have turned against adding
oil to water when cooking pasta. Those aged 18-24 (-37) and 25-34 (-26) tend
to consider this unacceptable, whereas their elders tend to see it as fine (+12
among those aged 55 and above).
(YouGov Sweden) February 3, 2022 Source: https://yougov.se/news/2022/02/03/italian-food-crimes/ 727-728-43-38/Polls What Impact Has Brexit Had On The EU; Yougov Asks 10 European Nations
The refrain of “they need us more than we need them” was common among
Brexiteers like Nigel
Farage and David
Davis both before and after the 2016
referendum. Those campaigning for a hard Brexit claimed that the European
Union would be worse off without the UK, and urged the government to take a
tougher line in negotiations. A survey of more than 10,000 people by the
YouGov-Cambridge Globalism project last summer reveals how nine EU
countries – and Britain – feel about the impact of Brexit. What impact has Brexit had on the economy
of the EU? The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that the long-term
economic impact of Brexit on the UK will be more
than twice that of the coronavirus pandemic. But the impact of Brexit on
the economy of the European Union is less clear-cut. French and German people are most likely to say Brexit has made no
difference to the economy of the EU. Half (51%) of Germans and half (50%) of
French people say Brexit has had not made a difference to the EU’s economy,
while a quarter (26%) and a fifth (22%) respectively say Brexit has made the
EU’s economy worse off.
Hungary’s president Viktor Orban has frequently expressed anti-EU
sentiment, although it seems as if there are no
current plans for ‘Huxit’. Hungarians were the only nationality polled
who were clearly more likely to say the EU is worse off economically as a
result of Brexit than ‘no difference’, by 42% to 34%. British people were split evenly between Brexit having no impact on
the EU (34%) and the EU being economically worse off as a result of Brexit
(37%). Danish people were similarly split, by 34% to 35%. However, there was widespread agreement across all 10 countries
surveyed that, whatever the impact of Brexit, it has not made the EU any
better off. Around one in 12 (8%) Germans and Spaniards say the EU is better
off as a result of Brexit, falling to one in 20 (5%) in Greece and Hungary. What impact has Brexit had on the unity of
the EU? At the time of the referendum, there were concerns that
Britain’s exit from the EU would lead to a mass exodus of other member-states
and the eventual break-up of the Union. However, it seems as if most Europeans feel like the unity of the EU
countries has not been affected by Brexit – and Britons overestimate the
impact that Brexit has had on the unity of the remaining member-states. A
third (34%) of Britons think that the EU has become less united as a result
of Brexit, compared to between 11% and 25% of the other nine countries
polled.
Germans (60%) and Spaniards (61%) were twice as likely as Britons
(32%) to say that Brexit has made no difference to the unity of the remaining
member-states of the EU, with similarly high numbers in Italy (56%), Greece
(56%), France (52%), Poland (50%) and Sweden (50%). One in six (17%)
Spaniards think the EU has become more united as a result of Brexit. (YouGov UK) February 03, 2022 727-728-43-39/Polls A Survey Carried Out In 28 Countries Shows That The Chinese, Hosts Of
The Event, Are The Most (84%)
Interested In The Competition
A survey carried out by Ipsos shows that 47% of Brazilians are
interested in the Beijing Winter Olympics, which will be held in the Chinese
capital starting next Friday, February 4th. In addition to Brazil,
citizens of 27 other nations were interviewed. Germany pulls the list of least enthusiastic nations. For 70%,
winter competition does not arouse interest. Next, tied at 68%, are
Canada, Great Britain and Belgium. pandemic scenario Respondents were asked whether they support the event in the midst of
the pandemic. For 52% of respondents in all countries, the event should
be maintained, compared to another 48%. Brazilians are divided: half
(50%) defend achievement. The greatest support for holding the Winter Olympics with the ongoing
pandemic was registered in the host country: 80% of respondents in China were
in favour. The list of countries that most support the competition is
followed by Russia (74%), Poland (70%) and India (67%). Popular Sports Doping However, in some countries support for athlete placements during
competition is low. This is the case of Hungary (37%), France (39%) and
South Korea (42%). Nationalism On the other side is Sweden, with only 35% of people seeing too much
nationalism in the competition. Then come Poland (37%) and France
(41%). When asked about media coverage in their countries, 60% agreed with
the phrase "the news and sports media in my country give good coverage
of the Paralympic Games". In this regard, Brazilians appear close
to the global average, with 61% agreement. (Ipsos Brazil) 4 February 2022 Source: https://www.ipsos.com/pt-br/47-dos-brasileiros-tem-interesse-pela-olimpiada-de-inverno-2022 |
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