GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- According to a new update of Gallup's historical "Most Important Problem Facing America" question, the percentage of Americans who are concerned about education, taxes and Social Security and Medicare has increased over the past year. At the same time, worries about crime -- which remains one of the top-ranking concerns -- have fallen.
The current percentage of Americans mentioning education as the nation's top problem, 16%, is up compared to last year, when 11% cited it as the top concern, and represents the highest rating the issue has received on Gallup's Most Important Problem question in the 60 years it has been asked. Education is the number one concern of Democrats and political independents in the March 10-12 poll, but ranks third among Republicans -- behind moral decline in the nation and taxes. Education is slightly more likely to be cited by women than by men (19% vs. 13%), and appears to be of greater concern to younger adults (aged 18-49) than to those aged 50 and older (18% vs. 14%).
Both George W. Bush and Al Gore have emphasized education in their campaigning so far in this presidential year, and given its importance to Americans, it is likely to remain at the forefront of the campaign as the election progresses. Does either major candidate stand to benefit? The most recent Gallup poll suggests not. Education appears to be up for grabs. Among those who name education as the top problem, half are voting for Democratic candidate Al Gore in the November election, while just slightly fewer, 43%, are supporting the Republican, George W. Bush.
The recent jump in the number of Americans mentioning taxes, from 3% in May 1999 to 11% today, is even more dramatic than that seen for education. Social Security and Medicare are mentioned by 9% of the public today, up from 3% last year. At the same time, crime has dropped from 17% to 13%. Gore is the slight favorite among voters concerned about the senior citizen insurance issues (53% favor him, compared to 43% who pick Bush). Bush is the more dominant favorite among those concerned about taxes, winning 59% of this group's vote, compared to 35% for Gore, possibly reflecting the tax-cut plan that has been a major part of Bush's campaign platform.
State of the Nation Seems Tranquil
Still, despite this year's changes in the rank order of top
problems, the most striking aspect of the pattern of issue concerns
today is that, unlike other periods in U.S. history, no single
issue currently dominates the public landscape. Without a foreign
conflict, economic recession, or heated battle in Congress to
galvanize concern over a specific issue, the most often-cited
problems on the minds of Americans today are more "perennial" in
nature: education, crime and moral values. However, despite their
high rank, just 13% to 16% of survey respondents mention each of
these issues as the top problem facing the country. By contrast,
when concern over crime was at its peak in 1994, over half of
Americans, 52%, cited it as the top problem. Similarly, from 1991
to 1993, the economy consistently led the list, with at least half
of Americans citing it as their main concern. At earlier points in
history, large proportions of Americans agreed that such single
issues as inflation or war were the nation's main areas of
concern.
Approximately one in nine Americans, 11%, mentions some dissatisfaction with government -- such as the job performance of President Clinton or the Republican Congress -- as the most important problem. This result is essentially on par with what Gallup has recorded in recent years.
A wide variety of other issues are mentioned by a smaller number of Americans. Among them are these:
- 8% say the most important problem facing the country is health care
- 7% reference guns or gun control
- 5% mention drugs
- 4% cite racism
- 3% say welfare
Republicans Particularly Troubled by Moral
Decline
Fifteen percent of Americans today, overall, cite some aspect of
ethical, moral, or family decline in America as being the nation's
most important problem. However, this class of concerns is
particularly high among Republicans nationwide, 28% of whom cite
this issue in the unprompted question. By contrast, only 11% of
political independents and 9% of Democrats say that moral decline
is the top problem.
When looking at vote preferences for president among respondents who cite some aspect of moral decline, Bush is the clear winner. Two-thirds of this group, 67%, say they plan to vote for Bush in November, while just 23% are supporting Gore.
In addition to moral decline, other differences between political groups are evident in the ranking of their responses to the "Most Important Problem" question. As noted, ethical/moral/family decline leads the Republican list of concerns with 28% of all mentions. This is followed among GOP adults by taxes, mentioned by 14%, education (13%), crime (10%) and health care (7%). By contrast, education is the top concern of Democrats, cited by 18%. Rounding out the top five for Democrats are crime (15%), health care (14%), poverty and ethical/moral/family decline, each mentioned by 9%. Taxes falls just short of the Democrats' top five, mentioned by 8%.
Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 1,006 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted March 10-12, 2000. For results based on samples of this
size, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error
attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus
3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question
wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can
introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.
What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today?**
RECENT TREND:
| Mar 10-12, 2000 |
May 23-24, 1999 |
|
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Education | 16 | 11 |
| Ethics/moral/family decline/children not raised right | 15 | 18 |
| Crime/violence | 13 | 17 |
| Taxes | 11 | 3 |
| Dissatisfaction with govt./ Clinton/ Republicans | 11 | 5 |
| Medicare/ Soc. Sec. | 9 | 3 |
| Health care | 8 | 5 |
| Guns/ gun control | 7 | 10 |
| Economy in general | 6 | 3 |
| Other non-economic | 6 | 12 |
| Poverty/ homelessness | 5 | 7 |
| Drugs | 5 | 5 |
| Federal budget deficit | 4 | 1 |
| International issues/ foreign affairs | 4 | 3 |
| Racism/ race relations | 4 | 3 |
| Welfare | 3 | 2 |
| Military/ defense issues | 3 | -- |
| Unemployment/ jobs | 2 | 4 |
| High cost of living/ inflation | 2 | * |
| Fuel/ oil prices | 2 | -- |
| School shootings/ school violence | 2 | 7 |
| Youth/ teen pregnancy/ children's needs | 2 | 7 |
| Environment | 2 | 2 |
| Abortion | 2 | * |
| Trade relations/ deficit | 1 | 1 |
| Gap between rich and poor | 1 | -- |
| Wage issues | 1 | -- |
| Foreign aid/ focus overseas | 1 | 3 |
| Immigration/ illegal aliens | 1 | 1 |
| Judicial system/ courts/ laws | 1 | -- |
| Care for the elderly | 1 | -- |
| Other specific economic | * | 2 |
| Kosovo/Serbia/Yugoslavia | * | 8 |
| Iraq/Saddam Hussein | * | * |
| AIDS | * | * |
| No opinion | 6 | 2 |
| 157% | 145% |
* Less than 0.5%
**Total responses add to more than 100% due to multiple responses
(3 responses allowed)
