{"id":47140,"date":"2021-04-15T14:52:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T19:52:24","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-05-28T11:08:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T15:08:34","slug":"americans-views-of-the-problems-facing-the-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2021\/04\/15\/americans-views-of-the-problems-facing-the-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"3. Americans\u2019 views of the problems facing the nation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The affordability of health care is high on the public\u2019s list of the biggest problems in the country today, with 56% of adults describing this as \u201ca very big problem\u201d and an additional 30% rating it \u201ca moderately big problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Health care costs is the only issue of the 15 asked on the survey seen as a very big problem by a majority of Americans, though about half say that the federal budget deficit (49%), violent crime (48%), illegal immigration (48%) and gun violence (48%) are very big problems. A similar share (47%) name the coronavirus outbreak as a very big problem \u2013 though that is down significantly from last summer, when nearly six-in-ten (58%) said this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the 15 problems in the survey are seen as at least moderately big problems by a majority of the public. However, Americans differ over the severity of these problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, nearly a quarter of adults (23%) say sexism is a very big problem \u2013 the lowest share of any issue asked about \u2013while 36% view sexism as a moderately big problem. Just one-in-ten say that sexism is not a problem at all, while 30% say it is a small problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Biden administration makes the case for massive new investment in the nation\u2019s infrastructure<\/a>, the condition of roads, bridges and other infrastructure ranks relatively low on the list of major problems facing the country. About a third of adults (34%) say the condition of infrastructure is a very big problem, four-in-ten say it is a moderately big problem, and a quarter say it is either a small problem (23%) or not a problem (2%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though neither domestic nor international terrorism ranks among the public\u2019s top problems, roughly a third of Americans (35%) say domestic terrorism is a very big problem in the country today, while a smaller share (26%) says the same about international terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans and Democrats far apart on biggest problems facing the country<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Gun violence, the affordability of health care, the coronavirus outbreak and racism are each seen as very big problems facing the country today by two-thirds or more Democrats and Democratic leaners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, far fewer Republicans say these are major problems in the country. Four-in-ten say health care affordability is a very big problem, and only about two-in-ten rate the coronavirus and gun violence as very big problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extent to which climate change and economic inequality are viewed as very big problems is similarly split along partisan lines. About six-in-ten Democrats say each of these are very big problems, while just 21% of Republicans say economic inequality is a very big problem and even fewer (14%) say this about climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, illegal immigration and the federal budget deficit are the top problems identified by Republicans. About seven-in-ten say both of these are very big problems for the country. Only about three-in-ten Democrats identify these issues as very big problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since last summer, Republicans and Democrats have diverged sharply in their views of whether the federal budget deficit represents a very big problem. Today, 71% of Republicans say the federal budget deficit is a very big problem \u2013 22 percentage points higher than the share saying this in June 2020. By comparison, about three-in-ten Democrats (31%) now say the deficit is a very big problem \u2013 14 points lower<\/em> than the share saying this last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, Republicans are now 40 percentage points more likely than Democrats to say the deficit is a very big problem, a stark contrast to the lack of a substantial partisan gap in these views 10 months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shares of both Republicans and Democrats who say the coronavirus outbreak is a very big problem have decreased since June, though this decline has been steeper among Republicans (a 16 percentage point change) than among Democrats (8 points).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The share of the public viewing unemployment as a very big problem for the country has declined since last June from 50% to 41% (when national unemployment<\/a> was substantially higher than it is today). The share of Democrats who say unemployment is a very big problem has fallen from 61% to 45% over this period, while the share of Republicans saying this is unchanged (36% then and now).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2018, the share of Democrats who say the affordability of health care is a very big problem has decreased by 10 percentage points, while the share of Republicans who say this has decreased by 18 points. The shares who say economic inequality is a very big problem have also decreased among members of both parties in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar share of Democrats say that the condition of infrastructure is a very big problem (44%) as said this in 2016 (41%). Republicans have become somewhat less likely to describe the condition of infrastructure as a very big problem (23% in 2021 vs. 32% in 2016).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The affordability of health care is high on the public\u2019s list of the biggest problems in the country today, with 56% of adults describing this as \u201ca very big problem\u201d and an additional 30% rating it \u201ca moderately big problem.\u201d Health care costs is the only issue of the 15 asked on the survey seen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[448,381,413,40,129,383,109,25,67,379,269],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[1114],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-47140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coronavirus-disease-covid-19","category-covid-19-politics","category-covid-19-the-economy","category-election-2020","category-immigration-attitudes","category-joe-biden","category-national-conditions","category-politics-policy","category-presidential-approval","category-unauthorized-immigration","category-vaccines","datasets-american-trends-panel-wave-87","formats-report","research-teams-politics"],"label":false,"post_parent":47107,"word_count":772,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2021\/04\/15\/americans-views-of-the-problems-facing-the-nation\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":141353,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":141353,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":141353,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":141353,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":141353,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg?w=640&h=360&crop=1","width":640,"height":360,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"social":{"id":141353,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/04\/PP_21.04.13_Biden100Days_feature-1.jpg?w=640&h=360&crop=1","width":640,"height":360,"caption":"","chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[{"id":47107,"title":"Biden Nears 100-Day Mark With Strong Approval, Positive Rating for Vaccine Rollout","slug":"biden-nears-100-day-mark-with-strong-approval-positive-rating-for-vaccine-rollout","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2021\/04\/15\/biden-nears-100-day-mark-with-strong-approval-positive-rating-for-vaccine-rollout\/","is_active":false},{"id":47126,"title":"1. 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