Poll: Majority of Americans cutting back to afford gas
Posted
May 09 2008, 06:29 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
A USA Today/Gallup poll released today says 60% of Americans are cutting spending "significantly" elsewhere in their budgets to compensate for higher gas prices. The Gallup Web site says that "only 38% said this when gas prices were shooting up three years ago."
Gallup surveyed 1,017 people in early May about 10 possible ways to deal with record-high gas prices, and got some remarkable results. "It seems a tipping point has been reached," says an article at Gallup by Lydia Saad.
Among them:
-
84% are cutting back on daily driving.
-
81% choose to drive their most fuel-efficient car if possible.
-
76% are trying to maximize the gas mileage they get from their vehicles.
-
71% are giving serious consideration to selecting a vehicle with better gas mileage next time they buy.
"Only two approaches -- switching to a lower grade of gasoline and using mass transportation or other alternate modes of travel -- have been embraced by fewer than half of Americans," the article says.
Of course, Gallup notes, those on the lower income rungs are sacrificing more to fill up their tanks. Three-quarters of low-income people and almost two-thirds of middle-income people are significantly cutting household spending, compared with fewer than half of high-income Americans.
"However," the article says, "even most high-income Americans (those with $75,000 or more in annual income) say they are trying to be more efficient with their errands, have taken steps to increase the gas mileage of their car, are opting to drive their most fuel-efficient car when they can, and are shopping for the cheapest gas."
Do Americans think gas prices will improve? No. "Over three-quarters of Americans are now convinced that the rise in the price of gas is permanent, the highest such reading since Gallup began asking about gas prices in this way in 2000," another article at the Gallup Web site says. And the majority of people think gas will reach $6 a gallon within the next five years.
