Working Conditions in the United States Results of the 2015 American Working Conditions Survey

This report introduces the American Working Conditions Survey (AWCS), a survey of individuals designed to collect detailed information on a broad range of working conditions in the American workplace. The AWCS was fielded on the RAND American Life Panel (ALP) in 2015. The ALP is a nationally representative (when weighted) sample of individuals residing in the United States who have agreed to participate in regular online surveys. Respondents who do not have a computer at home are provided both a computer and Internet access so that the panel is representative of all individuals in the country, not just Internet users. The survey instrument used by the AWCS was closely harmonized with the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), also fielded in 2015 across a representative sample of workers in 35 countries in Europe. This report presents detailed findings about the prevalence and distribution of working conditions across the American workforce by age, gender, and education. The AWCS findings indicate that the American workplace is very physically and emotionally taxing, both for workers themselves and their families. Positive findings include that workers appear to have a certain degree of autonomy, most feel confident about their skill set, and many receive social support on the job. This summary shares our key findings on American working conditions today. After each key finding, we have listed the relevant data tables and figures, which appear later in the report