Survey data provides valuable information for the study and analysis of public opinion, attitudes, and behavior. They are commonly used in several fields, such as policy evaluation, marketing, economics, elections, and education. In this post, we employ survey data to examine the public’s concerns following the recent 2022 U.S. midterm elections. The survey was conducted by YouGov, which interviewed 1,461 U.S. adults from November 18th to 29th, 2022.
Researchers and policy makers are often interested in knowing what issues are top of mind to the general public. One of the survey questions regularly used to uncover the public’s main concerns is asking respondents to identify the country’s most important problem (MIP). In this post, we will explore the public’s main concerns using the MIP question. Focusing on some of the main issues raised by the public, we will then explore heterogeneity in priorities and preferences stratified by respondents’ gender using other questions from the same survey.
Previous work has shown that women and men hold different policy positions and political attitudes across several policy areas. As women account for slightly more than half of the American population and have registered and voted at higher rates than their male counterparts, it is relevant to understand which topics men and women most disagree, as this brings substantive implications for public policy and accountability.
Recent studies suggest the American public’s attentiveness to a range of issues, from economic to social to foreign policy and many others, varies significantly over time. For instance, in the last two years, the percentage of Americans mentioning economic issues as the nation’s most important problem has increased substantially from 10% (Dec 2020) to 46% (Oct 2022). According to the November 2022 survey, inflation (24%) and the economy (13%) are still the top problems facing the United States. Figure 1 depicts the most relevant issues for the American public.
Researchers and policy makers are often interested in knowing what issues are top of mind to the general public. One of the survey questions regularly used to uncover the public’s main concerns is asking respondents to identify the country’s most important problem (MIP). In this post, we will explore the public’s main concerns using the MIP question. Focusing on some of the main issues raised by the public, we will then explore heterogeneity in priorities and preferences stratified by respondents’ gender using other questions from the same survey.
Figure 1. The Most Important Problem facing the country
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted November 18-29, 2022.
Figure 2. The Most Important Problem facing the country, by gender (%)
Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted November 18-29, 2022.
The state of the economy
Scholars have documented women generally being more pessimistic than their male counterparts regarding the country’s economic performance. Our survey data confirm this pattern. Eight in ten women say inflation has gotten worse in the past twelve months, while only seven in ten men agree with that statement. Looking at the economy in general, over half of male respondents evaluate it got worse over the past year. This percentage is even higher among women, as 70% of female respondents believe the economy worsened over the last year.
Figure 3. Retrospective Evaluation of the Economy and Inflation
A. State of the economy in the past 12 months (%)
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B. Inflation in the past 12 months (%)
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Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted November 18-29, 2022.
Given women’s pessimism regarding the economy, one could hypothesize that they would hold the incumbent government even more accountable for their economic policies than their male counterparts. Yet, the data does not support this hypothesis. More than half of women (53%) and men (51%) disapprove of how Joe Biden handles his job as president. However, women are statistically not less likely to approve of Biden than men (Fig. 4, panel a), even when taking into account relevant factors, such as party identification, family income, race, education, and region.
Similarly, when asked how much Biden’s policies are responsible for the state of the economy, most women (40.5%) and men (45%) answer “a great deal.”. Interestingly, women are slightly more likely than their male counterparts to say Biden’s policy is “not very” responsible for the economic circumstances (Fig. 4, panel b), controlling for relevant factors.
Figure 4. Predicted probabilities of approving of the president’s job performance and holding him accountable for the current state of the economy, by gender
A. Presidential Approval
B. Biden's Policy Responsible
Note: The figure shows the average marginal effects of gender (women – men, Δ) for each outcome. Standard errors of the predictions are in parentheses. * p < 0.10, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01 Respondents were asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as President? (Fig. 4, panel a).” And, “How much do you think Joe Biden’s policies are responsible for the current state of the economy? (Fig. 4, panel b).” Multinomial logit models control for party identification, employment status, race, family income, education, age, religion, whether the respondent is Hispanic or not, and region.
In summary, women’s pessimism about the economy does not translate into higher rates of incumbent job disapproval than men.
Gun Policy
Guns and guns policy is another issue of considerable concern among Americans. The survey asked, “Do you think the federal government should make it more difficult for people to buy a gun than it is now, make it easier for people to buy a gun, or keep these rules about the same as they are now?.” More than half of women say the federal government should make it more challenging to purchase a gun (57.5%). In contrast, men are more divided about making it more difficult (42%) and keeping the same rules (32.9%). Yet, one in four men believes the government should make it easier to buy a gun (25.1%).
Figure 8. Federal government policy to purchase guns (%)
Satisfaction with democracy in the United States
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Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted November 18-29, 2022.
Figure 5. Satisfaction with democracy in the United States (%)
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Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted November 18-29, 2022.
Climate Change
Scholars have also contended that women tend to be more concerned about climate change than men, especially in wealthier nations. Our survey asked, “how much do you think climate change is currently affecting severe weather events or temperature patterns in the United States?” A larger share of the female respondents (45.6%) believe that climate change is currently affecting severe weather events “a lot” or “a great deal” compared to 28.7% (of female respondents) who answered “a little” or “not at all.” By contrast, 41.6% of men say that climate change is affecting severe weather events “a little” or “not at all” compared to 38.1% that believe it is affecting severe weather “a lot” or a “great deal.”
Figure 6. The effect of climate change on severe weather events in the United States (%)
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Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted November 18-29, 2022.
Abortion rights
Abortion was a hot topic during the 2022 elections with the recent Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) overturning abortion rights from the Roe v. Wade (1973) case. While most men (56%) favor legalizing abortion in narrow circumstances, women are more divided about allowing it in any (40.3%) or only in certain cases (44.1%). Furthermore, they also disagree about the recent Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson. Women are primarily against the decision (51.8%), while a relatively larger share of men supports it (48.3%).
Figure 7. Abortions and the Supreme Court decision
A. Do you think abortions should be (%)
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B. Favor or oppose the Supreme Court decision reversing Roe v. Wade (%)
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Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted November 18-29, 2022.
Although some issues, such as the economy, can be considered valence issues, as nearly everybody can agree that poor economic performance is bad for the country, different groups may have divergent opinions or positions regarding how to address these issues. In this post, we show some descriptive evidence of how women and men hold different views on relevant topics that both genders believe to be critical issues for the country. Despite both seeing the state of democracy as a matter of concern, women are more dissatisfied with the country’s political regime. From the analysis above, some points may help to understand women’s frustration with the country’s democracy. They are more pessimistic than their male counterparts about the economic situation and climate change impacts, and they are ultimately unhappy about the recent Supreme Court decision. Nonetheless, women’s agreement with the Democratic Party on issues like abortion rights and gun control may be one of the reasons why women approve of Biden at similar levels as men despite more pessimistic views of the economy.
