Americans deal with a broad array of problems in their lives, from health care to education to employment to retirement. Many of these are personal matters having little or no relationship to the government. Others are personal matters that require dealing directly with the government, such as obtaining a military pension, Social Security benefits or a driver’s license. Other matters, such as looking for a job or thinking of moving to a new city, could involve some contact with the federal, state or local government, if only as a provider of information and assistance .
Here is the list of problems or questions and the percent of Americans who had dealt with each problem in the previous two years:
This survey asked questions about a variety of questions that would -- or could -- put people into contact with the government. Some matters required contact between government and citizens; some problems would provide an opportunity for contact; for still other matters, the government could simply be a source for helpful information.
The list of matters was designed to probe a range of information and assistance needs, although it is far from comprehensive. At one level, we wanted to see what kinds of matters had recently emerged in people’s lives. At another level, we wanted to see what information sources people turned to as they dealt with matters or confronted problems. And at yet a third level we wanted to see what role libraries might play as a resource for information, be they government documents or otherwise.
Demographic factors correlate with likelihood of experiencing some of these matters or problems. For example, 60% of parents say they have dealt with an educational matter, compared with 28% of those without a child under 18 at home. A total of 59% of Generation Y respondents (age 18-30 years) say they have dealt with an educational problem, compared with only 13% of the Matures (age 62-73 years).
Age is factor for the need to seek information about Social Security or military benefits. Just 20% of the younger cohorts said they had sought information on such benefits, compared with 27% of older Baby Boomers (age 52-61years) and 42% of Matures (age 62-71 years).
Americans report dealing with two or three of these matters in the last two years (a mean of 2.35 problems came in this sample). Other problems do not correlate with demographic factors.