Ipsos Core Political Survey: Presidential Approval Tracker January 2023

Washington, DC, January 19, 2023 – The Ipsos Core Political team has some exciting news! The Ipsos Core Political survey has a more in-depth questionnaire, has been moved to Ipsos’ probability-based KnowledgePanel®, and will be fielded once a month. This month, the Core Political shows President Joe Biden’s approval rating remaining steady, while the economy continues to the be the top concern. Americans do not feel positive about the direction of the country, and many have poor perceptions of political leaders and institutions.  

Detailed Findings

Americans are most likely to cite the economy as the most important problem (26%), followed by crime and corruption (10%), and immigration (9%). Republicans (28%), Democrats (18%), and independents (31%) are all most likely to say that the economy is the main problem. But when looking at second tier issues, each has a different perspective: 16% of Democrats report that the environment is the most important problem (a close second to the economy), 19% of Republicans say it is immigration, and 10% of independents say it is crime or corruption.

Just 15% of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction this month, and 62% say the country is off on the wrong track. Members of each party are more likely to be pessimistic about the country’s current direction than optimistic.

President Biden’s approval rating remains at 40% this week among all Americans. Biden still enjoys an 80% approval rating among members of his own party, but just 37% of independents and 3% of Republicans approve.

Americans want Biden to prioritize the U.S. economy and immigration as the top issues.

Americans are most likely to report approving of Biden’s handling of coronavirus and the environment. Biden receives low marks on immigration (27%) and corruption (24%).

When asked about other leaders, Americans are most likely to disapprove of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (53%), followed by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (42%).

Americans have a dismal view of the U.S. House of Representatives (62%) and the U.S. Senate (59%), with three in five Americans saying they have an unfavorable view of the legislative bodies.

Looking at key issues of the day, a majority of Americans support making it more difficult for immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti to claim asylum (54%), and they are least likely to support reducing spending on Social Security and Medicare (21%).

About the Study

This Ipsos poll was conducted January 13-15 2023, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,035 general population adults age 18 or older.

The margin of sampling error for this study is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.12. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on other sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel®, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult U.S. population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel® cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income, and political party identification. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2022 Current Population Survey (CPS) and the political party identification benchmark came from high quality probability polls.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

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

Annaleise Lohr
Director, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

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