Respondents in the United States are almost evenly divided on whether their President earns too much in a year or the right amount.
About half of Britons and Canadians believe the annual salaries of their heads of government are about right, but Americans are split on whether the income of their president is too high or reasonable, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
The online survey of representative national samples asked respondents in Canada, the United States and Britain about the annual salaries of the three politicians who will head to Toronto next week for the G8 summit: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President Barack Obama, and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
How much are they paid?
Britons are definitely more likely than Canadians or Americans to have a clear idea of what the annual salary of their head of government is.
In Britain, half of respondents (49%) know that their prime minister earns from £101,000 to £200,000 a year. Only 11 per cent think he makes less, while 30 per cent assume he earns more.
Only 14 per cent of Canadians accurately say that the annual salary of their prime minister ranges from $301,000 to $400,000. Almost one-in-five (17%) think the head of government makes more, while three-in-five (59%) suppose he earns less.
The United States yielded similar results, with just 14 per cent of respondents providing the correct answer (from $301,000 to $400,000). While 28 per cent of respondents think their head of state earns more, 44 per cent believe he makes less.
Are they worth it?
Once respondents were informed of the annual salaries of their heads of government—which in the cases of Canada and Great Britain include income earned as Members of Parliament—they were asked whether these politicians are paid too much, about right, or too little.
Half of Canadians (49%) and Britons (48%) believe the salaries are correct, along with 40 per cent of Americans. However, more than a third of respondents in Canada (36%) and the United States (also 36%) consider these annual salaries as too high, while just 30 per cent of Britons concur.
Also, while only eight per cent of Canadians think their head of government is paid too little, 17 per cent of respondents in both the United States and Britain share this view about their own leaders.
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)
CONTACT:
Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com
From June 8 to June 14, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,006 Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panellists, 1,004 American adults who are Springboard America panellists, and 2,003 British adults who are Springboard UK panellists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1% for Canada and the United States, and 2.2 per cent for Great Britain. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Canada, the US and Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
