Coronavirus Response Tracking Poll, Week 1 and 2

By Brian Schaffner and Laurel Bliss, Tufts University

Summary

In the past week, there has been an increase in people reporting they have lost their jobs. This week, 21 percent reported having lost their jobs, a 4 percentage point increase from last week. Fewer people are reporting a cut in hours, perhaps indicating that some workers who initially had their hours cut have now been laid off. Only 35 percent of respondents have received a stimulus check so far. Thirteen percent of respondents who work have received unemployment benefits since March 1st. Despite this increase in people who have lost their jobs, 70 percent of respondents remain more worried about their family’s health and well-being than their family’s financial situation. The majority of respondents are either very worried or somewhat worried about personally experiencing coronavirus, but Democrats are 18 percentage points more likely to be concerned. There is an 11 percentage point gap between Democrats and Republicans who are either very concerned or somewhat concerned about the epidemic here in the United States.

Approval of President Trump, Joe Biden, and The CDC have all remained relatively constant over the past week. Seventy-six percent of respondents approve or strongly approve of how the CDC is handling the coronavirus pandemic. Respondents approved or strongly approved of how Joe Biden was handling the coronavirus crisis at slightly higher levels than Donald Trump, with 55 percent and 47 percent approval, respectively.

Support for the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security” (CARES) Act remains high across the board. Over 90% of both Democrats and Republicans who are registered voters either support or strongly support the CARES Act. However, the majority of respondents believe that the government has distributed financial support too slowly. While 71 percent of respondents still believe the government needs to spend more money to address the coronavirus crisis, there is a 21 percentage point gap between Democrats, who are likely to believe the government should spend more, and Republicans.

As the federal government considers additional legislation to address the crisis, the tracking poll shows strong support for a number of policy items. Universal paid sick and family medical leave received 70% support and universal health care received 62 percent support. Sixty-one percent of respondents support investing in infrastructure. Grants to businesses to keep workers on payroll and funds to support struggling industries also received high levels of support at 81 percent and 68 percent, respectively. Seventy-three percent of respondents would support direct cash transfers to Americans. Legislation with broader scope still received relatively high levels of support. Relief for student debt holders received 61 percent support and expanded social security received 69 percent support. However, Just over half of respondents (53 percent) support reforms to allow for more absentee voting.

Approval

The graph below shows the percent who strongly or somewhat approve of Donald Trump, Joe Biden, or the CDC. Respondents who responded “not sure” were excluded from the analysis.

Question wording: “For each person or group, say whether you approve or disapprove of the way they are handling the coronavirus pandemic:”

Changes in job status

Here we track responses to a question asking respondents how their work has changed since March 1st of this year. Only respondents who are in the workforce are included in the chart below.

Since March 1st of this year, has your work changed? Yes, my hours have been reduced. Yes, I lost my job.

Government response to Coronavirus

In this section, we show how Americans are evaluating what the government has done to address the Coronavirus pandemic and how much they still want the government to do.

Question wording: Based on what you have heard, do you support the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act” or CARES Act?

Question wording: The recent stimulus package (CARES Act) mandated the distribution of financial support for individuals and small businesses. Do you think the government has distributed this financial support…?

Question wording: Do you think the government should spend more money to address the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impacts, or do you think the government has already spent enough

Question wording: Would you support or oppose the following provisions in a future legislative package to address the coronavirus pandemic:

General scope of government

Here we track Americans’ views on the scope of government.

Question 1 wording: Some people think the government should provide fewer services even in areas such as health and education in order to reduce spending. Suppose these people are at one end of a scale. Other people feel it is important for the government to provide many more services even if it means an increase in spending. Suppose these people are at the other end. Where would you place yourself on this scale? 1=Provide fewer services. 7=Provide many more services.

Question 2 wording: Some people feel the government in Washington should see to it that every person has a job and a good standard of living. Suppose these people are at one end of a scale. Others think the government should just let each person get ahead on their own. Suppose these people are at the other end. Where would you place yourself on this scale? 1=Govt should let each person get ahead on own. 7=Govt should see to jobs and standard of living.

Question wording: Do you think that the government response right now should mostly be focused on: Relief in the form of assistance to workers and small business OR Investments in new infrastructure to get Americans back to work.

Question wording: Would some form of socialism be a good thing or a bad thing for the country as a whole? (Remaining respondents selected “no opinion”)

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Methodology

The Data for Progress coronavirus tracking poll is fielded each week using respondents recruited via Lucid. Post-stratification weights are implemented to make each week’s sample nationally representative of American adults by gender, age, region, education, race, and the interaction of education and race. The margin of error for each week’s survey is approximately ± 3.7 percentage points (this is a conservative estimate and will vary slightly depending on the exact sample size and design effect each week).