Saint Louis Job News & Opportunities St. Louis Front Page is a weekly news publication, with daily updates, spotlighting attractions, events, business and hospitality in St. Louis, Missouri and Southwest Illinois. St. Louis News Community Info St. Louis Job News St. Louis CitySide Business News St. Charles News Southwest, IL News Fairview Heights,IL Art Gallery News Hotel News Restaurant News Style St. Louis Not Just For Kids   Downtown Map America's Center Busch Stadium Gateway Arch Scottrade Center Laclede's Landing Old Courthouse Union Station Washington Avenue   Metropolitan Map Casinos Clayton, MO Grand Center Grant's Farm Forest Park Kimmswick, MO MO Botanical Garden Soulard St. Charles, MO West Port Plaza Transportation Lambert Airport How To Reach Us: St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com Cell Phones May Play a Much Bigger Role in Helping Americans Get Work ST. LOUIS (PRNewswire), April 1, 2008 - Cell phones play a much bigger role in helping Americans get work, make money and respond in emergency situations than previously was thought to be the case, according to a first-of-its-kind study by Nicholas P. Sullivan, author of You Can Hear Me Now: How Microloans and Cell Phones Are Connecting the World's Poor to the Global Economy and a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Released recently by the independent New Millennium Research Council (NMRC) think tank, the Sullivan report concludes that providing cell phones to the 38 percent of America's 45 million poorest households now without them -- including millions of seniors, Hispanics, African-Americans and rural residents -- could help them get work or make money worth $2.9 billion-$11 billion. Entitled "Cell Phones Provide Significant Economic Gains for Low-Income American Households," the groundbreaking Sullivan study is based on two surveys: a scientific poll by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) of 1,005 Americans and a statistically large online sampling of 110,000 prepaid cell phone users. The study is the first in the U.S. to zero in on potential economic and public safety benefits to those in the bottom two quintiles of household income (less than $35,000), who are much less likely to own cell phones. According to the Sullivan report, those who do not now own a cell phone tend to be older (37 percent are retired), less educated (29 percent have a high school education or less), low income (38 percent make less than $35,000 a year) or unemployed (30 percent). In addition to the striking potential for more employment and wealth accumulation among low-income Americans, the Sullivan study finds a much stronger "safety blanket" effect from cell phones than commonly is assumed to be true. Majorities from every major demographic segment in the U.S. say the cell phone is "extremely important" for "emergency use," and prefer a cell phone to a landline phone in emergency/crime situations. About half of Americans (48 percent) have used their phone to call or text during an emergency situation, a fifth (20 percent) have received an emergency call or text on their cell phone, and nearly a third (32 percent) have bought a cell phone for a relative to use in emergency situations, according to the ORC survey. Two telling signs that the rapidly growing "safety blanket" effect of cell phones: Nearly three out of five Americans (58 percent) say if they had to choose only one phone, it would be a cell phone rather than a landline phone; and, when asked to choose the most important phone in an emergency situation, Americans now favor cell phones over landlines by a more than three-to-one margin. Study author Nicholas P. Sullivan said: "Millions of Americans who are most in need are missing out today on the economic gains that other Americans attribute to their cell phones. The overall conclusion in this study is that the cell phone is extremely important to Americans for personal safety, and a huge boon to an individual's potential economic productivity and earning power. The cell phone is particularly important to blue collar, minority, less educated and low-income segments of Americans, even though those groups are far less likely to own cell phones." Archived Stories: Job Opportunities You Can Count on Right Now Include Accounting State and Local Public Health Departments Facing Serious Shortage of Skilled Professionals Most Baby Boomers Underestimate Disability Risk 10 Steps to Keeping the Workplace Healthy in the Height of Flu Season Global Survey Shows U.S. Employees Give Highest Marks to Their Managers Demand For Landscape Architecture Services Remains High Career & Technical Education is Growing and Preparing Students for the Future Office Building Conditions Have Major Impact on Worker Attitudes, Productivity and Motivation Gender Plays Strong Role in Receiving Annuity, Pension Income Presenteeism Puts Companies at Risk, Employers Tell Sick Workers to Go Home Nearly 80 Percent of Workers Remain Confident in Job Security New Year's Resolutions - Should You Quit Your Job in 2008? Help-Wanted Advertising Declined in All Nine U.S. Regions    The Saint Louis Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group.