UCI

Executive Summary

This fifteenth report of the Orange County Annual Survey, UCI, continues to monitor social, economic and political trends. This year, we examine the extent to which Orange County has recovered from the economic recession and the bankruptcy. A special focus is to better understand attitudes toward charity and charitable giving. The 1996 survey was conducted August 30 to September 8 and included random telephone interviews with 1,000 Orange County adult residents in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3% at the 95% confidence level. Here are the highlights of this year's findings:

Residents' ratings of the Orange County economy have greatly improved since last year. Nearly half (44%) believe the Orange County economy is in excellent or good shape today, 45 percent say it is fair and only 10 percent believe it is in poor shape. The positive scores have improved 25 points over last year's survey (19% to 44%), while the negative ratings have declined by 20 points (30% to 10%). Optimism about the local economy is at the highest point since we began to ask this question in 1992. Results Top

Ratings of the quality of life in Orange County have increased sharply from a year ago, and have reached a high point for the 1990s. Eighty-two percent believe that things are going well in Orange County today, compared to 68 percent in 1995. Perceptions of the county's future also show more optimism than pessimism. Thirty-six percent expect Orange County to be a better place to live, while 28 percent think it will be worse and 36 percent expect it to be about the same as today. This year marks only the fourth time since we began asking this question in 1983 that there is more optimism than pessimism about the county's future. Results Top

Most residents give excellent or good ratings to their local public services, including police protection (75%), parks and public recreation (74%), public libraries (66%), and streets and roads (60%). Forty-two percent give positive ratings to their local public schools. These evaluations have not declined since the Orange County financial crisis and, in fact, some have improved since the early 1990s. Residents are more confident in their city governments than in the county government when it comes to solving problems (42% to 24%) and paying attention to residents' concerns (67% to 59%). Still, few see their city government (14%) or county government(7%) as paying a lot of attention to residents. Many believe that the county government (39%) and their city government(29%) waste a lot of tax money. Fifty percent are willing to raise taxes to improve local public schools. Results Top

The Orange County Consumer Confidence Index climbed sharply from last year (90 to 101) and stands above 100 points for the first time since the late 1980s. Also, the local index is once again ahead of the U.S. index (95). All five questions in our Consumer Confidence Index show improvement from 1995: 46 percent of county residents say they are financially better off now than they were a year ago; 50 percent expect to be financially better off next year than they are now; 61 expect good times for the U.S. economy next year; 50 percent believe the U.S. will have continued good economic times during the next five years; and 65 percent think this is a good time for major purchases. Median annual household income now stands at $48,000, only slightly higher than last year. Consumers here did not actually lose ground, since the inflation rate in the region was below 2 percent. Results Top

Twenty-six percent of Orange County residents say they worry about money very often, while 31 percent say they worry about their personal finances fairly often and 43 percent say they do not often worry. Financial worries are unchanged from the 1992 survey, taken at a low point in the recession, but residents today worry much more often than they did 10 years ago. Thirty-two percent of Orange County residents say that they have enough money to save and buy extras, while 51 percent have just enough to pay the bills and 17 percent say they do not have enough money to pay their bills. Compared to the national surveys, Orange County residents are somewhat more likely to feel they have enough money to save and buy extras (32% to 24%), while fewer think they have just enough to pay the bills (51% to 57%). Perceptions of personal finances vary significantly across income groups. Results Top

Crime is rated the most pressing public policy problem by 27 percent of residents. Immigration is next on the list (15%), followed by schools (13%). Jobs and the economy, growth, and traffic are each mentioned by 11 percent, while only 7 percent name the county's recent financial crisis and 5 percent mention housing as the most important problem. Since 1995, the number naming the financial crisis has dropped by 19 points, while mentions of crime have risen 6 points. In the realm of social issues, drug abuse continues to be seen as the county's top concern (38%), followed by health care (18%), the homeless (15%), race relations (13%), child care (10%) and AIDS (4%). Drug abuse is up 10 points since last year, putting it at its highest level since 1990, while concerns about health care are down 10 points. Results Top

Sixty percent of homeowners and 45 percent of renters believe that buying a home in Orange County is an excellent or good investment. The number of homeowners who think a home in Orange County is a favorable investment is up 10 points since last year, as optimism returns to the levels seen before the county's financial crisis. Among renters, the number who believe that buying an Orange County home is an excellent or good investment has risen 4 points since last year, while the number considering it a poor one is down 8 points. The median monthly mortgage payment is $960 this year, and the median rent is $713. Sixty-four percent of homeowners and 44 percent of renters pay more than $750 a month for housing. Mortgages are up 4 percent from last year's median of $919. Rents, meanwhile, are down 2 percent from the 1995 median of $730. Results Top

Twenty-six percent say the current freeway system is satisfactory, 52 percent want lanes added and an all-time low of 22 percent want new freeways built. The trend of rising satisfaction and declining desire for new freeways has been underway since 1989, when only 7 percent were satisfied and 51 percent wanted to build new freeways. Nineteen percent of workers say they experience major traffic problems during their commute, which is similar to what it has been for most of this decade. Measure M projects keep on getting more popular. Seventy-three percent of residents now say they are satisfied with the way Measure M funds are being spent. Satisfaction with Measure M spending is up 13 points since 1995, and 25 points since 1992. Results Top

Residents reported being very favorable toward giving to programs that help the needy (37%), followed by churches and religious groups (32%), hospitals and medical causes (25%) and museums and the performing arts (18%). Since 1987, favorability toward programs to help the needy and hospitals and medical causes have both declined 10 points. Favorability toward charitable causes appears to greatly influence the amount residents give. Thirty-five percent say that Orange County charities ask them for money very often, 36 percent say sometimes and 29 percent say they are rarely or never asked for donations. Wealthier residents are more likely to be asked to donate, but fewer than half in all income groups say they are very often asked to give to local charities. Importantly, those who recall being asked are more likely to give. Eighteen percent say they have a great deal of confidence that local charities spend the money they receive wisely and 52 percent say they have some confidence, while 29 percent have little or no confidence. A similar 19 percent of residents have a great deal of confidence in Orange County charities being able to produce results and 60 percent have some confidence, while 16 percent have little or no confidence. Confidence in charities has a significant effect on monetary donations. Results Top

There was a significant rebound in money donated to charity this year. Residents reported a median donation of $253, up $76 from the median reported in 1995. This year's rate of giving is similar to the figures for 1987 and 1989. One reason for the increase in giving appears to be that residents were more likely to have made a monetary donation to charity this year than last. Only 10 percent said they gave nothing, compared to 17 percent in 1995. Giving also increased significantly in the higher income groups. Among those earning more than $50,000, 49 percent gave more than $500, which is the highest rate of giving in that group this decade. Results Top

Volunteering time also rose this year. Fifty percent say they did some volunteer work in the past year, including 28 percent who volunteered for more than one charity. The number of Orange County residents who did some volunteer work is the same as the rate found nationwide, according to a survey conducted by the Gallup organization. Overall volunteering and volunteering for more than one group are up 6 points from last year, although overall volunteering is below the level found in 1994. Women, college graduates, older, and higher-income residents are the most likely to volunteer. As we have seen in the past, people who give time are also more likely to give money. Thirty-eight percent of volunteers gave more than $500, compared to 22 percent of those who did not volunteer. Those who volunteer also tend to have more confidence in Orange County charities. Results Top

Orange County residents are more likely to describe themselves as middle-of-the road in their political ideology today than in 1990 (33% to 26%) because of a decline in those saying they are very liberal (9% to 6%) or very conservative (13% to 9%). Today, 65 percent say they are moderate to somewhat conservative. In the 1996 survey, 49 percent of Hispanics and 33 percent of Asians say they never voted in the past four years. As for frequent voting, most non-Hispanic whites say they voted four or more times (52%) in the past four years, compared to 15 percent of Hispanics and 16 percent of Asians. As a result, frequent voters tend to be non-Hispanic white (86%) with few Hispanics (7%) and Asians (4%). While their voting patterns may differ, most Hispanics (57%), Asians (62%) and non-Hispanic whites (68%) say they are middle-of-the-road to somewhat conservative. Results Top