DFP Coronavirus Response Tracking Poll Week 7

Brian Schaffner and Laurel Bliss Tufts University

Summary

Concern about the coronavirus epidemic in the United states remains high, but is down 6 percentage points from April 14th to 84 percent. Social distancing measures continued the trends from last week with slight increases in socializing with friends and family and a slight decline in not socializing at all in the past week. 22 percent of respondents are socializing with friends and family and 22 percent are not socializing at all. 71 percent of respondents are more worried about themselves and their own family’s well-being than their family’s financial situation. This percentage has been relatively constant since April 14th, even as more and more people continue to lose their jobs and have their hours cut. However, there has been a 4 percentage point increase in people who say they are more worried about the economy than the impact of coronavirus on people since April 14th which is now up to 50 percent.

Support for the CARES Act continues to drop, even as more respondents report receiving their stimulus checks. Support for the CARES Act this week is at 79 percent, down 7 percentage points since April 14th. The percent of respondents who report they have heard “a lot” about the CARES Act has dropped nearly 10 percentage points since April 14th to 36 percent. It is possible people have begun to forget what the CARES Act did, even though 69 percent of people have now received their stimulus checks. The HEROES Act receives similarly strong support, though still less support than the CARES Act (72 percent). Sixty-six percent of respondents believe the government should spend more money to address the coronavirus crisis.

Support for direct cash transfers to Americans is down 6 percentage points from last week, but remains high at 62 percent. Reforms to allow for absentee voting is supported by just over 50 percent of respondents, but 20 percent of respondents are unsure, leaving net support at +20 percentage points. Though support for many provisions that could be part of a future legislative package to address the outbreak continue to see slight declines from previous weeks, support for all items remains over 50 percent.

Approval on handling of coronavirus pandemic

The graph below shows the percent who strongly or somewhat approve of how Donald Trump, Joe Biden, or the CDC are handling the coronavirus pandemic. 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:”

Which level of government do you trust more to handle the Coronavirus pandemic: The [R’s state] state government or the federal government?

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 work force 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.

Social Distancing

Question wording: Which of the following best describes your current behavior?

I am continuing to socialize in public places

I am continuing to socialize in public places, but slightly less than before

I am not going to public places, but I am socializing with friends or family in my or their homes

I am not going to public places, but I am socializing with friends or family virtually I am not going to public places nor am I socializing with family or friends

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: Congress is now considering the HEROES Act, which would spend an additional $3 trillion, including $1 trillion for state and local governments and hospitals, $200 billion in hazard pay for essential workers, and would give households a additional stimulus payments ranging from $1,200 to $6,000. Do you support or oppose this legislation?

Question wording: Have you received a check or direct deposit as part of the federal government’s stimulus bill (the CARES Act)?

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: Which comes closer to your view?

The government needs to spend more to address the coronavirus pandemic, even if it means increasing the national debt and deficit

The government has spent enough to address the coronavirus pandemic and should not do anything else to increase the national debt and deficit

The government has spent too much to address the coronavirus pandemic and should cut spending to reduce the national debt and deficit

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”)

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).

Full Toplines and Crosstabs

A document showing toplines by survey wave for each question can be found here.

Crosstabs for each week’s poll can be found at the links below:

The raw data for the tracking poll can be found here.