Ninety percent of registered voters agree that providing support and services for people with children and aging, ill, or disabled family members will provide economic stability for millions of people

Eight in 10 voters say unsupported caregiving is a huge burden for families

Washington, D.C. — As voters await a new administration and Congress, new research released today finds overwhelming bipartisan support for a coordinated, comprehensive plan to help families caring for children, as well as elderly, disabled, and ill family members. Global Strategy Group conducted the survey on behalf of Caring Across Generations, Paid Leave for All, and TIME'S UP Foundation. 

“For far too long, we’ve treated caregiving as an individual problem for people to solve on their own, rather than something that demands a comprehensive, critical investment in the U.S. workforce and the economy as a whole,” said Tina Tchen, president and CEO of TIME’S UP Foundation. “Now is the time to shift our culture and policies to catch up to the realities facing working families so everyone can access safe and affordable care for themselves and their loved ones.”

This spring, Congress passed emergency legislation, but now key provisions that guarantee paid leave and provide unemployment insurance are due to expire this month – leaving 87 million workers at risk. In addition, 80 percent of workers do not have access to paid family leave, and more than 30 million lack even a single paid sick day. The new poll shows voters are looking to Congress and the new administration to bring immediate and long-term help and relief: nearly eight in 10 voters surveyed said Congress, President-elect Biden, and state and local leaders are responsible for fixing our current care system and implementing a new one.

“We need relief now, as part of emergency COVID-19 relief, and over the long run as we rebuild our economy,” said Dawn Huckelbridge, director of Paid Leave for All Action. “Families simply do not have the support they need in this country. Some of us have lost jobs and others are at risk of losing income because we are sick. Parents have lost child care and in-person school. We’ve had to figure out how to care for our aging parents. It's become clear that we don't have systems in place and Congress is failing to bring help and relief to our families when we need it most.”

For many voters in the 2020 election, caregiving has a direct impact on their personal lives: more than eight in 10 voters say the cost and lack of availability of both child care (85 percent) and care for aging, ill, or disabled family members (86 percent) are burdens for most families in their community. It comes as no surprise, then, that voters overwhelmingly support policies to support caregivers and meet the demands of the current moment.

Support for care policies is especially high among women (93 percent), people of color (94 percent), people ages 45-64 (93 percent), as well as nine in 10 Democrats, nine in 10 Independents and more than eight in 10 Republicans.

Additionally, voters understand that individual, uncoordinated reforms that focus on families are simply not enough to solve the magnitude of this crisis: seven in 10 voters favor coordinated reforms to support caregivers as a part of a comprehensive plan to help families. Yet despite widespread agreement that supporting caregivers and families is vital to our country’s economic recovery, nearly two-thirds of respondents think government officials are doing a bad job ("only fair" or "poor") providing support and resources for families who need affordable and quality child care options during the pandemic.

“An investment in our care infrastructure is an investment in a strong and equitable economic future,” said Ai-jen Poo, director of Caring Across Generations. “Centering care needs across the lifespan will ensure that our loved ones can get the quality child care and home care they deserve, caregivers can keep their jobs when they get sick or need time off to care for their families, and care providers are paid a living wage. Our economy will recover only when all Americans, especially Black and immigrant women who take on a disproportionate amount of paid and unpaid caregiving, can support their families.”

Global Strategy Group conducted an online survey of 1,501 registered voters nationwide between November 21-25, 2020. The survey had a confidence interval of +/-2.5 percent. All interviews were conducted via web-based panel and matched back to state voter files. Care has been taken to ensure the geographic and demographic divisions of the population of registered voters are properly represented. Read the full memo here.