Voters Want Legislation That Creates Jobs and Addresses High Costs
By Anika Dandekar
From December 3 to 6, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,298 likely voters nationally testing attitudes towards inflation and the Build Back Better Act. Some of these questions were replicated from previous surveys. We find that voters attribute recent increases in prices to pandemic shortages, not government spending. In fact, increased government spending as outlined by the Build Back Better Act to make investments in the things that Americans spend most of their income on, such as rent, prescription drugs, elder care, and child care, retains majority support over time and even when opposing arguments are presented.
Voters’ Concerns Will be Addressed With Passage of Build Back Better
We then asked voters what they are concerned about. Eighty-three percent of voters are “somewhat” or “very” concerned about the cost and quality of long-term care for seniors and people with disabilities. Costs of prescription drugs and costs of healthcare like expensive hearing aids concerns 82 percent of voters. Cost of housing, such as rent and mortgage payments, causes 75 percent of voters to be “very” or “somewhat” concerned. Using fossil fuels and being underprepared for climate disasters concerns 68 percent of voters. Fifty-seven percent of voters say they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about costs of college tuition. Fifty-four percent of voters say they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about not having paid medical or family leave from work. Forty-nine percent of voters are “somewhat” or “very” concerned about costs of child care and pre-K. Luckily, provisions of the Build Back Better Act will address these concerns.
The Build Back Better Act Has Remained Popular Over Time
In four surveys since early November, Build Back Better is supported by at least 60 percent of all voters. Opposition to the legislation has remained well below 40 percent over the four surveys.
Voters Believe Price Increases Are Due to Temporary Bottlenecks, Not Government Overspending
Throughout the four surveys where voters were asked about increasing prices, a majority of voters consistently say price increases are temporary, due to supply chain shortages caused by the pandemic. Across these four surveys, consistently less than 40 percent of voters say price increases are due to government overspending.
Voters Say Job and Wage Growth is More Important to Them Than Slowing Price Increases
Job and wage growth is not mutually exclusive of slowing price increases. However, when voters are asked which is more important to them, 54 percent of voters say job and wage growth is more important to them, while only 39 percent of voters say slowing rising prices is more important.
Majority of Voters Support the Build Back Better Act, Even When Shown Arguments Against Its Passage
We then presented voters with statements in support of and in opposition to the passage of Build Back Better, with regard to how it will affect costs. Among all likely voters, the Build Back Better Act is supported with a margin of +23 points. Democratic and Independent voters support the legislation with respective margins of +75 and +21 points. Even 30 percent of Republicans support the Build Back Better Act and 63 percent oppose it.
Anika Dandekar is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.