Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregonians are not feeling as bad about the economy as they were last fall. But it’d be a stretch to say they’re feeling good about it.

A new poll finds Oregonians have a little less concern about the economy and their own financial health.

About half the Oregon residents who responded told the polling firm Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall that they’re feeling in worse financial shape now, than they were a year and a half ago. That’s an improvement over how people responded 13 months ago to that question – when nearly two-thirds said things felt worse.

John Horvick administered the poll for OPB and Fox-12. He says fewer people are saying things are worse. But they’re not saying things have improved. They’re saying they don’t know.

John Horvick: “They’re just backing away from that fear that sort of I think pushed everybody a year, two years ago. I think that anxiety is still holding them back -- I think sometimes their situation is better -- but it’s holding them back from being confident about how they answer that question.”

The poll was conducted early last week by telephone with 500 Oregon residents. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percent.

That anxiety Horvick mentions translates into persistent worry. In a series of three surveys conducted since last summer, a steady two-thirds of respondents have said they’re at least somewhat worried about their financial situation.

David Pape: “Our investments are still not bringing anything, you know.”

David Pape is retired and lives outside Albany.

David Pape: “When you’re on a fixed income, that doesn’t help any. And then of course, when you get old, you get more hospital bills and things.” 

Pape was among 24 percent of poll respondents who said they were “very worried” about the current financial situation.

And Pape expects his financial picture to darken even further in the next six months. But that view puts Pape in a minority position.

More than half of the respondents saw the future the way Ellen Beckett does. Beckett says in six months, she’ll probably be no worse off -- but no better off, either.

Beckett lives in Fairview and is self-employed.

Ellen Beckett: “I’ve lived a long time, and I see the big up’s and down’s in the economy, and me personally, I seem to skim along at about the same place. Kind of down here on the underside, but not on the street, or anything like that.”

Beckett is also in the growing number of respondents to OPB/Fox-12 polls saying they “don’t know” if their current finances are worse than they were 18 months ago. Beckett says she answered that way because she doesn’t feel she’s better or worse off -- just the same.

Ellen Beckett: “I make an okay living, enough to live on. The downside is, like a lot of people, I have no health insurance whatsoever. So, I’m lucky that I’m healthy, but I don’t know what would happen if I had a serious health problem.”

Beckett told pollsters she’s not very worried about her financial situation.

Pollster John Horvick says more and more respondents are saying they’re even less worried than Ellen Beckett.

Fourteen percent of respondents in the new poll said they were “not at all worried” about their finances. Only six percent said that last fall.

John Horvick: “Now these are real small changes, I wouldn’t want to make the statement that ‘the economy is turning around and people are excited about where we’re going’ – but perhaps there’s just some softening out there, some small growing confidence.”

And for every David Pape predicting his finances were likely to decline further, there were about two respondents saying theirs would improve.

Judy Stuffelbeam-Ochs: “Well, number one, I guess I’m the eternal optimist.”

Judy Stuffelbeam-Ochs of Oregon City told pollsters that her financial situation has gotten better in the last year and a half, and she’s not worried right now. She says she’s seen some signs locally that things are brightening.

Judy Stuffelbeam-Ochs: "In the stores that I go in, the shelves seem to be stocked a little bit more fully. I see changes coming, and it may be partly because people cut back for a while, and maybe balanced their ship a little bit. Then, figured they can go forward a little more cautiously, but they can go forward.”

The poll also uncovered differences between Democrats and Republicans. Stuffelbeam-Ochs is a Democrat and she was optimistic that the Obama Administration would keep the country on the right path.

David Pape of Albany is a Republican. Some of his pessimism results from problems he sees with Democratic leadership in Washington D.C. and Salem.

In the Davis, Hibbitts, & Midghall poll, Democrats were only half as likely as Republicans to believe their finances would worsen in the next six months.

The partisan differences were even more stark in how people responded to other questions in the new poll – such as those involving public employee unions. 88 percent of Democrats polled said they support collective bargaining rights for teachers, for instance. By contrast, just 40 percent  of Republicans polled supported collective bargaining.