A sharp rise in Democrats’ share, which sees “state of moral values” as a huge national issue
How did you do this
The Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand Americans’ views on the issues facing the nation.
This analysis examined 5,086 adults between January 27th and February 2nd, 2025. Anyone who participated in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP). Address that you agree to conduct regular inspections. This type of recruitment gives almost every US adult a chance to choose. The survey was conducted online or over the phone with live interviewers. The survey is weighted to represent the adult US population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other factors. Read more about ATP methodology.
The questions used for this report, topline, and research methodology are as follows:
At the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, Americans see many economic issues as the best the country faces, from inflation to affordable healthcare and the federal deficit.
Most adults continue to say that the country’s economy is only in the form of fair (45%) or poor (31%).
Today, 63% say inflation is a very big problem for the country. This is comparable to last May, down from the 70% high in 2022.
At the same time, the proportion of adults who say that affordability in healthcare is a very big national issue has surpassed 10% points since last year. An increase in the share of Americans who view the federal deficit as a huge problem (53% at the time, 57% today).
One exception is unemployment. Just about a quarter of them say it’s a very big problem for the country, as has been the case in the last three years.
How Americans rank national issues
Almost seven Americans say that “the role of money in politics” is a very big issue in the country today. This is the highest share of the 24 items asked in the survey.
Affordable prices for healthcare (67%), inflation (63%), federal deficit (57%) and the number of Americans living in poverty (53%) are also one of the biggest concerns of the public. .
About half view Republicans and Democrats’ ability to work together (56%), drug addiction (51%) and moral values status (50%) as the biggest issues today.
The far fewer stocks in the public view terrorism, racism, or climate change as a huge issue for the nation, but Republicans and Democrats have opposed some of the harshness of these issues. Masu.
Note: See the topline for a complete list of the 24 items asked. There is no at least four items displayed here.
Republicans aren’t too worried about partisan cooperation, the political system
The Republican stocks, which he says are “the ability of Democrats and Republicans to work together,” have fallen markedly, and he says “the way the American political system operates” is a very big national issue.
The ability of Republicans and Democrats to work together in May 2024 was 57% of Republicans and Republicans who said the ability of Democrats and Republicans to work together was a huge issue for the country. This has dropped to 48% today. Almost two-thirds of Democrats and Democrat Leaners continue to view partisan relations as a very big national issue (63% vs. 64% a year ago). 48% of Republicans, the way the US political system operates in 2019, said the way the US political system operates is a huge problem. 40% say this today. Democrats’ views remain largely unchanged over this period (below 54% vs. 56% today).
Democrats are increasingly concerned about agreements on basic facts, states of moral values.
Republicans and Democrats are moving in different directions regarding whether the level of American agreement on the fundamental facts of the country today and the moral values of the country is a major issue in the country.
Level of American consensus on basic facts
46% of Democrats said in 2018 that “the level of American consensus on basic facts about issues and events” was a huge issue for the country. Today, 58% say this. In contrast, the share of Republicans who view this as a very big problem during this same period has dropped by 7 percentage points (39%, 32%). In the state of moral values about a year ago, 32% of Democrats said that “state of moral values” is a very big issue. This jumped to 51% today. Republicans have fallen 13 percentage points, and they say the state of moral values has been a huge issue since last year (61%, 48%).
Partisan views on national issues
Republicans and Democrats generally agree with the severity of some of the problems facing the country, such as the role of money in politics and the affordability of healthcare.
However, Republicans and Democrats view other areas of questioning differently.
Among Republicans, this is the biggest concern for independents who are leaning towards Republicans and Republicans, between illegal immigration (73%) and inflation (73%). Within the Democrats, the role of money in politics is the biggest concern (78%), followed by affordable prices for healthcare (73%), gun violence (69%) and climate change (67%). Masu.
There is a particularly partisan gap in the extent to which climate change and illegal immigration are considered issues.
There is also a gap of at least 20 points for each of the following issues:
Level of American consensus on basic facts about issues and events (32% of Republicans vs. 58% of Democrats say this is a huge problem) The number of Americans living in poverty (Republicans) 40% of Democrats, 65% of Democrats) Inflation of natural disasters (33% of Republicans, 54% of Democrats) (73% of Republicans, 53% of Democrats) Racism (15% of Republicans, 15% of Republicans , 55% of the Democratic Party)
Republicans and Democrats are more closely aligned in their views on the severity of the following issues:
Moral values of domestic terrorism (32% of Republicans, 36% of Democrats) (48% of Republicans, 51% of Democrats) (48% of Republicans, 51% of Democrats)
The big gap between Democrats, Republicans on immigration, gun violence, climate and racism
Over the past decade, many issues have been characterized by deep partisan divisions, ranked at the top concern that one party ranks the lowest of the other parties. There were some issues.
Illegal immigration
For example, 73% of Republicans say illegal immigration is a very big issue within the country, while only 23% of Democrats say the same thing. The partisan gap in this question has ranged from 40 to 50 points for most of the past decade.
Gun violence
While 69% of Democrats view gun violence as a huge problem, just 26% of Republicans say the same thing. This 43-point gap is typical of the past decade.
Climate change
Just like in the past few years, there is a 54-point gap between Democrats (67%) and Republicans (13%) who value climate change as a very big issue facing the country. Democrats are also likely to view the “natural disaster impact” as a much bigger issue than Republicans, but the partisan gap on these views is more modest (54% of Democrats vs. 33 for Republicans). %).
Racism
Democrats are also more consistently likely than Republicans to say racism is a very big issue in the country. Today, 55% of Democrats say this, compared to 15% of Republicans.
Smaller gaps between schools, drug addiction and infrastructure partisans
While many major national issues have broad partisan differences, Republicans and Democrats are more consistent on a few other issues.
Drug addiction
Today, 54% of Republicans say drug addiction is a huge issue, and 46% of Democrats view it as a big issue.
The country’s view on the severity of drug addiction peaked in both Republicans and Democrats in 2019, when around seven people in Tenten in each group said it was a very big issue.
Public kindergarten to high school quality
The same Republican and Democrat shares say that public kindergarten to high school quality is a huge issue (45% each).
Republican views have remained relatively unchanged since last year. Democrats’ concerns about the quality of public K-12 schools have risen six points from last year, filling small partisan gaps in recent years.
Roads, bridges and other infrastructure conditions
Approximately three Democrats (33%) and Republicans (29%) say roads, bridges and other infrastructure conditions are a huge issue in the country today.
Partisan’s view on economic issues
inflation
Inflation is one of the most concerns for Americans, with 63% describing it as a very big problem. This is roughly equivalent to 2024, and is said to be down from 70% in 2022.
Republicans are more likely to cite inflation as a much bigger issue than Democrats (73% vs. 53%). However, the gap is narrower than it was a year ago.
Federal budget deficit
Throughout President Joe Biden’s administration, Republicans were almost twice as likely as Democrats to describe the federal deficit as a huge problem.
Today, this gap is narrowing. The percentage of Democrats who say the deficit is a very big problem is 12 points (47%) today (47%) higher than last May (35%). In contrast, the share of Republicans who say the deficit is a very big problem fell to five points (71% to 66%) over the period.
Affordable prices for healthcare
A majority (61%) of Democrats (73%) and Republicans (61%) view healthcare affordability as a huge issue.
unemployment
Few people in either partisan coalition view unemployment as a very big problem today. Only 27% of Democrats and 21% of Republicans say this.
