---
title: "Security Trumps Salary"
description: "By a ratio of nearly two-to-one, survey respondents say they would prefer a job that offers better security over one that offers higher pay but less stability."
date: "2009-09-15"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2009/09/15/security-trumps-salary/"
---

# Security Trumps Salary

By a ratio of nearly two-to-one, survey respondents say they would prefer a job that offers better security (59%) over one that offers higher pay (33%) but less stability.It’s not the recession that drives this preference. A similar question asked by the General Social Survey in 1989 (when the economy was in the midst of an expansion) produced a similar result. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1330/american-work-force-is-graying)