Job worries up, carbon trading support down: survey

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A survey shows people’s willingness to pay more for power under a carbon pollution reduction scheme (CPRS) has fallen, while concerns over job security have soared.

Last quarter, 60 per cent of people surveyed for the Sensis Consumer Report said they would be prepared to pay higher energy costs under a scheme, but that has fallen to 55 per cent this quarter.

The report’s author, Christena Singh, says the average amount people are prepared to pay is $160 per year, down from $169 last quarter.

“[We are] obviously in a climate where we’re seeing consumers more concerned and consumer confidence dropping and dropping in the state of the economy,” she said.

In last year’s report, unemployment was ranked at 5 out of 10 as a concern, but it now ranks 7.4 out of 10.

Ms Singh says people are worried about the forecasts for increasing unemployment.

“When we were seeing much higher levels of economic growth, and economic confidence, having a good job was the main factor,” she said.

“Now we’ve seen that shift in the last year being the main factor, so job security is really a key theme that’s underlying the rise in concern over unemployment.”