Biden’s standing on key issues softening

Washington, DC, September 29, 2021

According to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll, Americans’ approval on how President Joe Biden is handling a slate of key issues, including the response to COVID-19, rebuilding infrastructure, immigration, and gun violence, is declining. Though a majority of U.S. adults still approve of Biden’s handling of the response to coronavirus, the economic recovery, and rebuilding infrastructure, this marks a decline in overall sentiment since the summer. The majority of parents of children under the age of 12 are likely to get their kids vaccinated when it’s available for their child’s age group.

Detailed findings:

1. A majority approve of Biden’s handling of the pandemic, economic recovery, and rebuilding the United States’ infrastructure. However, despite his positive standing, there are signs he is losing ground even on these issues, some of which have been the signature issues of his campaign and presidency.

• Though most feel positive about the job the president is doing on these issues, including 57% approval on the response to COVID-19, and 55% approving of his handling to rebuild infrastructure, this marks an overall decline in sentiment over the past few months.
• Biden’s approval rating on handling the pandemic is now 15 percentage points lower than at the end of March; his standing on the economic recovery is nine points lower over the same time period.
• This decline is mainly driven by a decrease in support from independents.

2. Immigration, gun violence, Afghanistan and crime are issues Biden is faring less well on. Roughly a third of independents approve of the job he’s doing on these issues.

• Overall, slightly more than a third of Americans approve of the way the president is handling immigration and the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border (33%), gun violence, (38%), Afghanistan (38%), and crime (43%).
• For these four issues, just over one in three independents approve of the job Biden is doing, while he receives positive marks from only around one in ten Republicans.
• For those seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, a majority of Americans say they should be allowed to stay in the U.S. until their cases are heard (58%). There is a significant partisan gap with 83% of Democrats supporting this compared to 57% of independents and 27% of Republicans.
• Biden’s standing on Afghanistan has eroded particularly rapidly from July, when 55% approved of the president’s handling of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan (now 38% approve, in line with views from one month ago).

3. A majority of parents with a child under the age of 12 are likely to have their child get the coronavirus vaccine when it’s available for their child’s age group.

• Fifty-six percent of parents with a child under the age of 12 are very or somewhat likely to have their child get the coronavirus vaccine when it’s available for their child’s age group.
• One of the biggest differences among parents is rooted in their partisan affiliation. Three-quarters of Democrat parents (78%) and three in five independent parents (61%) are likely to have their child get the coronavirus vaccine when it’s available. A third of Republicans say the same (38%).

About the Study

This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted September 24 to September 28, 2021 by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,101 adults age 18 or older, including an oversample of parents with at least one child under the age of 12.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US 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 study was conducted in both English and Spanish. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, household income, parent status by age by gender, parent status by education by race/ethnicity, Covid-19 vaccination status, and party identification. The demographic benchmarks came from 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) from the US Census Bureau. Covid-19 vaccination status benchmarks are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) administrative records as of Tuesday, September 28, 2021. Party ID benchmarks are from recent ABC News/Washington Post telephone polls. The weighting categories were as follows:

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45–59, and 60+)
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other or 2+ Races Non-Hispanic, Hispanic)
• Education (High School graduate or less, Some College, Bachelor and beyond)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
• Parent status (Parent with at least 1 child under 12 years, Not a parent of a child under 12 years) by Age (18-29, 30+) by Gender (Male, Female)
• Parent status (Parent with at least 1 child under 12 years, Not a parent of a child under 12 years) by Education (Less than Bachelor, Bachelor and beyond) by Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, All Other)
• Covid-19 vaccination status (Vaccinated with at least one dose, Not Vaccinated)
• Party ID (Democrat, Republican, Independent, Something else)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.7 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 1.56.  Among parents with at least 1 child under the age of 12, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, with a design effect of 1.24.  The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on 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.

About Ipsos

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