Ipsos Core Political Survey: Presidential Approval Tracker (11/18/2021)

Washington, DC, November 18, 2021 – This week’s Core Political survey shows Americans remain split on the key issues facing the country, but about one in five note that it is the economy. President Biden’s approval rating remains under 50%.

About 20% of Americans say the economy and jobs is the most important problem facing the country. This is followed by public health, disease and illness (10%), immigration (10%), the environment and climate (10%) and the health care system at 9%.

Republicans say that the economy and jobs are the most important issue (23%), followed by nearly one in five who say it is immigration (19%). Democrats are concerned with the economy and jobs (16%), the environment and climate (15%), public health (14%), and the health care system (13%). Independents view the economy and jobs as the most important problem (26%), but are split between the environment and climate (10%) and immigration (10%) as the next most important issues.

Forty-four percent of Americans approve of Biden’s performance as president.  

Republicans continue to give President Biden low approval ratings, with just 13% reporting they approve. Democrats continue to be supportive of the president, with nearly four in five approving of how he is handling his job (78%). Independents remain critical of Biden (36%).  

Americans are most likely to say that President Biden should prioritize the U.S. economy (41%) and 27% report he should focus on the pandemic.  

When it comes to partisan priorities, Republicans' and Democrats' perceptions of what Biden should prioritize vary greatly. Democrats want Biden to focus on the pandemic (40%), while just 17% of Republicans feel the same way. Half of Republicans (50%) and 43% of independents believe the economy should be front and center, while one-third (33%) of Democrats say the same thing. Republicans would also like Biden to focus on immigration (38%) compared to just 7% of Democrats and 17% of independents.  

More than half of Americans (53%) approve of how Biden is handling coronavirus, and an equal proportion approve of how he is handling employment and jobs (44%) and the environment (44%). Forty-three percent approve of his handling of racial inequality.

Democrats approve of Biden’s handling of various issues, but are most likely to say they approve of his handling of coronavirus (86%), followed by employment and jobs (76%). Similar to his overall approval rating, Republicans are very critical of Biden’s performance on the issues, just 23% approve of his handling of coronavirus - the highest rating of any of the issues from Republicans. Independents also give Biden his highest marks on coronavirus, with nearly half approving (48%).

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between November 17-18, 2021. For this survey, a sample of 1,003 Americans age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English. The sample includes 437 Democrats, 365 Republicans, and 113 independents. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. The poll also has a credibility interval of ± 5.3 percentage points for Democrats, ± 5.8 percentage points for Republicans, and ± 10.5 percentage points for independents.  

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Kate Silverstein
Media Relations, US
Public Affairs
+1 718 755-8829
[email protected]

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