Most small businesses believe it's important to support the LGBTQ+ community
Washington, DC, June 13, 2022 - Amidst LGBTQ+ Pride month, the majority of U.S. small business owners believe it is important to support the LGBTQ+ community – yet, fewer have taken direct action at their business, according to the latest MetLife/U.S. Chamber of Commerce small business survey. For many, taking action isn’t without potential risk or hesitation, as most also say businesses need to be careful where they step and remain neutral on political or social issues.
Across several actions that small businesses could take to support the LGBTQ+ community, this poll finds that somewhere between two-thirds and four-fifths of owners broadly feel they are important. However, the share of small businesses saying each of these actions is important is roughly divided by those saying each is very important and the share saying each is somewhat important. This poll suggests that small business owners may struggle with whether to weigh in on or remain neutral about supporting LGBTQ+ rights; roughly two in three believe it is a good idea to publicly share their beliefs on LGBTQ+ rights while a similar share believe that they should remain neutral on social issues. Alternatively, given survey respondents can define “social issues” for themselves, it is possible that some small business owners simply separate their support for LGBTQ+ rights from social issues or feel more comfortable with showing a sign of support for specific groups, rather than specific social issues.
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For results from the Q1 2022 Small Business Index released earlier this year, please visit here.
About the Study
These are the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between April 20 - April 28, 2022. For this survey, a sample of 501 small business owners and operators age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii was interviewed online in English.
The sample for this study was randomly drawn from Ipsos’ online panel and partner online panel sources and does not rely on a population frame in the traditional sense. Ipsos uses fixed sample targets, unique to the study, in drawing sample. Small businesses are defined in this study as companies with fewer than 500 employees that are not sole proprietorships. Ipsos used fixed sample targets, unique to this study, in drawing sample. This sample calibrates respondent characteristics to be representative of the U.S. small business population using standard procedures such as raking-ratio adjustments. The source of these population targets is the U.S. Census 2019 Statistics of U.S. Businesses dataset. The sample drawn for this study reflects fixed sample targets on firmographics. Post-hoc weights were made to the population characteristics on region, industry sector, and size of business.
Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online non-probability polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. Where figures do not sum to 100, this is due to the effects of rounding. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 5.4 percentage points for all respondents. Ipsos calculates a design effect (DEFF) for each study based on the variation of the weights, following the formula of Kish (1965). This study had a credibility interval adjusted for design effect of the following (n=501, DEFF=1.5, adjusted Confidence Interval=+/-6.9 percentage points).
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Mallory Newall
Vice President, U.S.
Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2014
[email protected]
About Ipsos
Ipsos is the world’s third largest Insights and Analytics company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.
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