Pew Research: Political parties have different views on how government can support families

From We are America the Beautiful blog on August 19, 2022

Pew Research released its latest findings on the opinions of 5,074 American adults on several questions regarding how the government should support families.

A slim majority (54%) of Americans say the federal government is not doing enough to address issues affecting children, while almost half (46%) say the government is not doing enough to address issues facing parents. Many Americans suggest social support or direct financial assistance as a way for the government to support parents and children, though Democrats and Republicans typically recommend different approaches.

- 38% of adults say the government provides the right amount of assistance for parents

- 33% of adults say the government provides the right amount of assistance for children

- 10% of adults say the government provides too much assistance for parents and children

There is no difference in opinion between parents or demographic groups on these questions. Despite this, there exists significant partisan divides on how much the government should address parental and child issues.

Wide political differences and some overlap in opinions of what the federal government should do to support families. We see some overlap in tax cuts and child credits and better funding for school funding and resources. Large gaps exist in providing social programs such as universal childcare and preK, paid family leave, and healthcare.

Republicans favor more parental control over school choice and curriculum and less government involvement overall. According to a Republican in their 30s said, “They should be enacting policies that strengthen the family and give parents the ability to raise their children as they see fit rather than giving that power to the public education system.”

Democrats support social programs like universal childcare, insurance, and school funding. A young Democrat said, “They need to be ensuring that K-12 education is properly funded and that children get a quality education no matter where they live – including free preschool. There also need to be controls on how much university tuition is so that the only options are not going into debt or expecting parents to have saved enough money to afford it.”

NET Social support programs:

• 19% Republican

• 42% Democrat

Universal Childcare and preK

• 9% Republican

• 25% Democrat

Paid Family Leave

• 4% Republican

• 14% Democrat

Insurance and Healthcare

• 4% Republican

• 13% Democrat

NET Direct economic relief

• 15% Republican

• 16% Democrat

Tax cuts/child credits

• 6% Republican

• 5% Democrat

NET More parental control in schools and school choice

• 30% Republican

• 4% Democrat

Parental authority over subjects taught:

• 25% Republican

• 2% Democrat

Better school funding and resources

• 6% Republican

• 7% Democrat

Less government involvement

• 13% Republican

• 1% Democrat

What do you think?

Click on this link to read the entire article and view the charts.