The global economic crisis has made fears of unemployment the No. 1 concern, surpassing worries about poverty, social inequality, crime and violence, a 22-nation survey showed.
Some 41 per cent of people said joblessness was their biggest worry, a 13-percentage point jump from a year ago, when unemployment was No. 4, according to the November survey of 22,000 people.
"Jobs, jobs, jobs all across the globe is the No. 1 issue," said Clifford Young of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, the international market research and polling company that carried out the online poll. "There is going to be demand for government solutions."
US data showed private employers shed 693,000 jobs last month, far more than expected and up sharply from the 476,000 jobs lost in November.
"(The poll) suggests there is going to be a strong return to bread and butter issues, especially job creation and job-related programmes and it suggests in respect to the economy greater government intervention," Mr Young said.
Some 35 per cent of those polled were equally concerned about poverty and social inequality or crime and violence, making it the No. 2 issue, while 31 per cent feared corruption and financial or political scandals.
In October 2007, crime and violence was the top issue, followed by poverty and social inequality, and corruption and financial or political scandals.
Ipsos polled people in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, India, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the US.
The 22 countries make up 75 per cent of the world's gross domestic product. When the poll is broken down, unemployment is the top concern for North Americans, Europeans, the Asia Pacific and the Group of Eight industrialised nations - the US, Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Japan and Russia.
In Latin America, crime and violence far outweighs unemployment as an issue, with 68 per cent worried about the former and just 38 per cent anxious about the latter.
In the emerging economic powers of Brazil, Russia, India and China - known as the BRICs - corruption and financial or political scandals are the top concern. Unemployment and jobs comes in at No. 4.
"On the jobs issue, the slowdowns are just hitting the BRICs right now, so what we would expect in the next survey is a tick up in the jobs and unemployment issue. There's a lag effect with these countries," Mr Young said.