Canadians Among Most Optimistic in the World About Economy; But Don't Like Austerity Direction - Global Survey

TORONTO, July 6, 2012 /CNW/ - In a recent global survey commissioned by the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation, and conducted by global research firm TNS and Dutch consulting firm Anker Solutions, Canadians emerged as one of the most optimistic countries with regard to the state of the economy within the global financial crisis.  Full version of this press release along with the survey charts and commentary from a TNS expert is available directly on www.tnscanada.ca/news/CANADIANS-AMONG-MOST-OPTIMISTIC-IN-THE-WORLD-ABOUT-ECONOMY.pdf .

Optimism in Canada, Brazil, and South Africa

Brazil is the most optimistic country in our poll with more than two out of three respondents saying their country is headed in the right direction. Canada, comes in as a strong second: as many as 61 percent of the Canadian respondents believe their country is headed in the right direction followed by South Africa where 53 percent believe their country is headed in the right direction. This contrasts to the US and not surprisingly, Greece where pessimism is highest.

Positive View is not an Endorsement of Austerity Policies

A majority (52 percent) of Canadians feel that government should "invest in jobs and growth", and another 37 percent say they should do both equally.  Only 11 percent of Canadians stated we should pay off debts now. These results tend to me more or less in line with our counterparts in the 12 other countries surveyed.

Canadians also agree with most people in the countries surveyed that strong government action continues to be required on affordable health care, education, ensuring decent retirement income and ensuring unemployment benefits.

Feelings of Helplessness Under the Surface

The global survey also showed that two-thirds of people think that future generations will be worse off.  In Canada, that number rises to an alarming 77 percent.  Also, two-thirds of all those surveyed (67%) and 68% of Canadians think that international banks and financial institutions have too much influence on the economic decisions of their governments.

ABOUT THE GLOBAL SURVEY

The ITUC Global Poll 2012 report conducted by TNS and prepared by Anker Solutions is available at www.ituc-csi.org from 12 June in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. The English version is available directly at:
http://www.tnscanada.ca/news/ITUC2012_Poll_EN.pdf

Notes for editors:

The findings of this study represent the opinions of more than 1.4 billion people, or 20 percent of the current world population. TNS carried out the fieldwork from 10 April - 6 May 2012. Quota samples were used to reflect national proportions in terms of age, gender and region. In each country, approximately 1,000 respondents were interviewed on-line in each country, for a total of 13,087 respondents.   Given the samples are drawn from our panels in each participating country, normal statistical margins of error do not apply.   A similar sized probability sample of 1,000 respondents would have a margin of error of +/- 2.9%, 19 times out of 20.

Anker Solutions, based in the Netherlands, was responsible for questionnaire design, analysis and report writing.

About TNS and Kantar

TNS (formerly known as TNS Canadian Facts) is the Canadian arm of TNS Global. TNS advises clients on specific growth strategies around new market entry, innovation, brand switching and stakeholder management, based on long-established expertise and market-leading solutions. With a presence in over 80 countries, TNS has more conversations with the world's consumers than anyone else and understands individual human behaviours and attitudes across every cultural, economic and political region of the world.

TNS is part of Kantar, one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups.

Please visit www.tnsglobal.com for more information. 

Kantar is one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups. By uniting the diverse talents of its 13 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. Its 28,500 employees work across 100 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group's services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. 

For further information, please visit us at www.kantar.com 

Norman Baillie-David
Vice President
[phone] x101
[email protected]