Older Adults Worried about the Economy in Montana

Fr: Susan Buckles, APR
      Northwest Area Foundation
      60 Plato Boulevard East
      St. Paul, MN 55107
      651-225-3865
      sbuckles@nwaf.org

ST. PAUL, Minn. August 28, 2008 - Older adults in Montana tend to be more worried that their local economy will get worse in the next year, while younger adults tend to worry more that their pay won’t be enough to meet their bills. Those findings come from a national poll on perceptions of people who are struggling to make ends meet commissioned by the Northwest Area Foundation. The national poll explored people’s attitudes and concerns about their local economies, who is struggling financially and the role of locally elected officials.

Poll results show:

• Sixty-three percent of people 55 and older vs. 47 percent of those 35 and younger worry the economy in Montana will get worse in the next year

• Thirty-three percent of Montanans 35 and younger worry all or most of the time their income won’t be enough to meet their bills
• Twenty-four percent of Montanans 55 and older worry their income won’t be enough to pay their bills

Nationally, seven in 10 also said a family of four needs at least $40,000 a year to make ends meet, a figure nearly twice the federal poverty threshold. In Montana, 87 percent say it takes at least $30,000 a year to meet the basic needs of a family of four.

The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to supporting efforts by the people, organizations and communities in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity. These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill, established the foundation. To learn more, visit www.nwaf.org.

-END-
The Northwest Area Foundation (NWAF) commissioned Lake Research Partners (LRP) to conduct a national tracking survey to among 4,000 Americans age 18 and older, from February 8-29, 2008. Eight hundred interviews were conducted nationally, and oversamples of 400 were conducted in each of the following eight states: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The oversamples were weighted down to reflect their true proportion in the country. The margin of error is +/-3.5 percentage points for national and +/-5.0 points for state results. This is the third survey of its kind, replicating studies NWAF and LRP released in March 2006 and April 2007.