DFP Coronavirus Response Tracking Poll Week 23

By Brian Schaffner Tufts University

Summary

This week’s survey comes at the five-month mark since we launched the Data for Progress coronavirus response tracking poll in April. Overall, our tracking poll shows that attitudes have largely stabilized when it comes to evaluations of coronavirus, the social distancing behaviors adopted by Americans, and their assessment of what the government should be doing to address the pandemic and its economic impacts. Biden continues to receive higher marks than Trump in terms of his handling of the pandemic. Evaluations of Trump’s handling of the crisis have slowly declined since April and a significant part of this decline is due to increased dissatisfaction among senior citizens. In April, 52% of those 65 and older approved of how Trump was handling coronavirus compared to 48% who disapproved. However, in our September polling, just 41% of seniors approve of how Trump is handling the pandemic while 58% now disapprove.

There have now been well over 6 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, and in our polling more than 40% of American adults now say that they know somebody who has had the virus. Indeed, about one-in-six Americans report that they know at least one person who has died from coronavirus.

More than 90% of Americans continue to report that they are wearing masks in public places. Mask-wearing in our September waves was higher than at any point since we began tracking social distancing behaviors. Over three-fourths of Americans continue to report that they are avoiding crowded public places, and two-thirds report that they are avoiding physical contact with people. On the latter two metrics, behaviors are relatively stable to what they have been since June (though down since April and May, the periods of peak lock down).

A broad majority of Americans continue to support the HEROES Act, which was passed by the House but has not been acted on by the Senate. A large bipartisan majority also supports extending the expanded unemployment insurance benefits that expired at the end of July. Perhaps due to his inaction on these items, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s rating on handling of coronavirus is at its lowest point yet. Just 27% approve of his handling of the pandemic while 49% disapprove. His net rating on handling coronavirus is lower than any of the other national leaders we have polled about, including Biden, Trump, Pelosi, Pence, and Schumer. The only politician among this group with a net positive rating is Biden.

Worry/Concern about coronavirus

The graph below tracks the percentage of Americans who say that they are very worried about personally experiencing coronavirus and those who are very concerned in general about the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking into consideration both your risk of contracting it and the seriousness of the illness, how worried are you personally about experiencing coronavirus (coronavirus)?

How concerned are you about a coronavirus epidemic here in the United States?

Approval on handling of coronavirus pandemic

The graph below shows net approval – the percent who strongly or somewhat approve of how Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and the CDC are handling the coronavirus pandemic minus the percent who strongly or somewhat disapprove.

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.

Personal experience with coronavirus

Question wording: Do you, personally, know someone who has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus? (Select all that apply)

Yes, a family member

Yes, a friend

Yes, a co-worker

Re-opening Schools

Question wording: There is a lot of discussion over whether schools should re-open for in-person classes next month. Regardless of current plans in your state, please indicate whether you support or oppose the following:

Re-opening elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools for in-person classes

Cutting federal funding for schools and universities that do not re-open for in-person classes

Social Distancing

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

I am socializing in public places

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

Question wording: Which, if any, of the following measures have you taken during the past two weeks to protect yourself from coronavirus (coronavirus)?

Wore a face mask when in public places

Avoided crowded public places

Avoided physical contact with people

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: The expanded unemployment insurance provision that Congress passed as part of coronavirus relief expired on July 31st. Would you support or oppose extending this unemployment insurance expansion until the unemployment rate falls to where it was before the coronavirus pandemic?

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.

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 ± 4 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.

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

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