On Tuesday, the German supermarket chain Aldi became the latest retailer to incentivize its employees to get the coronavirus vaccine. After Dollar General announced a similar incentivization program last week, CivicScience ran a survey to gather consumer sentiment on these sorts of measures. How do people feel about companies (in essence) paying their employees to protect themselves from COVID-19 illness?
Survey says: pretty good.
Of the more than 3,000 U.S. adult respondents, most have a positive opinion of such a program or are neutral about it. Only 17% disagree to some extent.
Overall support of companies incentivizing employees to be vaccinated is driven by people who are most concerned about the virus, but it’s also a bit more nuanced than that. Among even those who disagree with the practice, there is still some coronavirus concern, it’s just that these people aren’t keen on companies offering this sort of incentive.
The data takes a similar shape when it comes to personal vaccine opt-in. Those who support incentivizing inoculation are more likely to get the vaccine right away.
Among those who would be considered retailer workers (adults who work in a service-related occupation), there is strong support for such programs. There is also the highest percentage of those who remain unsure, although only 7%. Those in business management jobs show the least amount of support for this idea.
Demographics
The study also found that the older someone is, the more likely they are to support COVID-19 vaccination incentives. Notably, it also found that men are significantly more likely than women to be in support of this idea.
And, while it’s not drastic, those who make under $35k annually are less likely than other higher-income brackets to support this practice.
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