Folks and their stereotypes of OWS and Tea Partiers
Gallup Poll of Tea Party participants in April 5, 2010 (1100 polled) and survey of OWS website visitors (1619 polled) by Hector Cordero-Guzman and Harrison Schultz in October 2011:
TP age 18-29: 16%
OWS Age less than 35: 67%
TP age 30-49: 34%
OWS age 35-45: 13%
TP age 50+: 50%
OWS 45+: 20%
Employment:
TP Full time: 50%
OWS Full time: 50%
TP Part time: 6%
OWS Part time: 20%
TP Unemployed: 6%
OWS Unemployed: 13.1%
National: around 9%
TP: Retired: 24%
Income:
TP 30K: 19%
TP 30-50K: 26%
OWS 50K: 70%
TP 50K+: 55%
OWS 50-80K: 15%
OWS 75+: 13%
OWS 150+: 2%
So a cursory glance reveals several things, most of which can be explained by the difference in the average age of the two groups. If you are younger, you make less money, have higher unemployment and are in school more. But not nearly as drastically different from the Tea Partiers, who also have their unemployed and their poor. Dare I say that the focus of the two groups can also be largely explained by the perspective in life stage. If you are beginning the journey, you want to have easier entry to the job market and wealth and safety nets, while if you are retired, you care more about protecting what you have. Finally, both camps are upset about excessive greed and disparity at the cost of the average joe.
