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Poll: Economy remains Americans' top concern
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01/23/12 06:03 PM ET
The nation’s economy and its job market remain Americans’ top concerns, a new poll has found.
The Pew Research Center found that strengthening the economy (86 percent) and the job market (82 percent) were the only two issues that at least seven out of 10 Americans called a top priority.
Those two areas have been Americans’ top concerns throughout President Obama’s time in the Oval Office, Pew reported.
And sticking with fiscal issues, the polling company also found that budget deficits had become much bigger concern over the last five years, with 69 percent now calling it a top priority.
The survey results come the day before Obama is scheduled to give his final State of the Union address before facing the voters in November, and show that Americans are increasingly focused on what’s happening within the U.S. borders.
In all, Pew found that adults were nine times more likely to say that the president should concentrate on domestic issues (81 percent) than foreign policy (9 percent). Five years ago, Americans were split down the middle on whether then-President George W. Bush should concentrate more on domestic or foreign concerns. The Pew poll also found that some issues – especially illegal immigration and climate change – did not resonate nearly as much with Americans as they did before Obama took office.
A quarter of Americans now find climate change a top concern, down from almost four in 10 in 2007. More than half of Americans named illegal immigration a priority that same year, a figure that has now fallen to 39 percent.
On the flip side, giving both the economy a boost and reducing unemployment have become a much larger concern since 2007, the year before the fiscal crisis broke. Roughly seven in ten saw the economy as a top priority that year, while 57 percent said the improving the job situation was a big concern.
As for America’s debt, 84 percent of Republicans now think federal deficits are a big concern, far outpacing Democrats or independents.
According to Pew, exactly half as many Republicans (42 percent) named deficits a big deal five years ago, just as Democrats were taking control of Congress following the 2006 elections. In all, 53 percent of Americans singled out deficits as a big concern in 2007.
Pew also found that roughly six in 10 thought that tax fairness, an issue that the president is expected to discuss in Tuesday’s address to Congress, was a big deal.
About half of Republicans and households making more than $75,000 considered the issue a top priority, well under the two-thirds of Democrats and households making under $75,000 that came to the same conclusion.
The Pew Research Center found that strengthening the economy (86 percent) and the job market (82 percent) were the only two issues that at least seven out of 10 Americans called a top priority.
Those two areas have been Americans’ top concerns throughout President Obama’s time in the Oval Office, Pew reported.
And sticking with fiscal issues, the polling company also found that budget deficits had become much bigger concern over the last five years, with 69 percent now calling it a top priority.
The survey results come the day before Obama is scheduled to give his final State of the Union address before facing the voters in November, and show that Americans are increasingly focused on what’s happening within the U.S. borders.
In all, Pew found that adults were nine times more likely to say that the president should concentrate on domestic issues (81 percent) than foreign policy (9 percent). Five years ago, Americans were split down the middle on whether then-President George W. Bush should concentrate more on domestic or foreign concerns. The Pew poll also found that some issues – especially illegal immigration and climate change – did not resonate nearly as much with Americans as they did before Obama took office.
On the flip side, giving both the economy a boost and reducing unemployment have become a much larger concern since 2007, the year before the fiscal crisis broke. Roughly seven in ten saw the economy as a top priority that year, while 57 percent said the improving the job situation was a big concern.
As for America’s debt, 84 percent of Republicans now think federal deficits are a big concern, far outpacing Democrats or independents.
According to Pew, exactly half as many Republicans (42 percent) named deficits a big deal five years ago, just as Democrats were taking control of Congress following the 2006 elections. In all, 53 percent of Americans singled out deficits as a big concern in 2007.
Pew also found that roughly six in 10 thought that tax fairness, an issue that the president is expected to discuss in Tuesday’s address to Congress, was a big deal.
About half of Republicans and households making more than $75,000 considered the issue a top priority, well under the two-thirds of Democrats and households making under $75,000 that came to the same conclusion.
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