NATION Poll: Most workers are happy with jobs

Most of those surveyed said they are paid fairly.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A majority of Americans say they find satisfaction in their jobs, according to an Associated Press poll, though many express concerns about job stress, health care and retirement benefits.
Peggy Branan, a 44-year-old nurse in the New Orleans area, is among about half of the population who say they are "very satisfied" with their job.
"I feel blessed to be able to get paid for what I enjoy doing," said Branan, a nurse for 21 years. "I'm very active in my church. My role as a nurse is a way to fulfill my role as a Catholic."
Seven in 10 surveyed said they are paid fairly. Men were more likely than women to feel this way.
For Branan, work is an important part of who she is. That same feeling was shared by six in 10 workers.
About nine in 10 workers say they find their job at least somewhat satisfying, according to the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs.
"The level of the public's satisfaction with work is high and has been quite stable for the last 30 years," said Tom Smith, director of the General Social Survey at the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago.
Complaints
One of the more frequent complaints is the growing amount of stress at work. In the poll, 34 percent said they were dissatisfied with the amount of stress. Other leading complaints included opportunities advancement as well as health and retirement benefits.
Adults age 18 to 29 were most likely to say their job was something they mainly do to earn money.
For 24-year-old Annie Blaase of Chicago, her full-time job selling health-care software is relatively enjoyable. Still, her main love is freelance writing, which is part time.
"The sales I do to pay the rent and pay bills," Blaase said. "But the writing, that's my catharsis. It has more to do with who I am as a person."
People over 30 were more likely to say they were very satisfied with their jobs.
Those most likely to say they were very satisfied were white, married, college-educated, homeowners and Republicans.
The poll found that 42 percent said their jobs were interesting nearly all of the time. One-half of those surveyed said their job is interesting most of the time, but has dull stretches.
The AP-Ipsos poll of 589 workers was taken Aug. 16-18 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.