Reuters / Ipsos Core Political Survey: Presidential Approval Tracker March 2023

Washington, DC, March 8, 2023 – The March wave of the Reuters/Ipsos Core Political survey shows that President Joe Biden’s approval rating remains low and that a majority of the country feels America is headed off on the wrong track. Additionally, a majority of Americans support banning TikTok from government devices, making it harder to migrants to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, and the federal student loan forgiveness program.

Detailed Findings

About one in five Americans say that the economy, unemployment and jobs is the most important issue facing the country (22%). Americans are split on what the other main problems are – about one in ten say it is either crime and corruption (11%), the healthcare system (9%), or immigration (8%). Republicans (28%), Democrats (18%), and independents (19%) report that the economy is the main issue, but Republicans are more likely to report this than Democrats or independents. Partisans diverge on main issues after the economy. Democrats perceive inequality and discrimination (14%) to be the next most important problem, while Republicans are equally likely to say immigration (15%) and crime or corruption (15%). Independents are most likely to say the healthcare system after the economy (12%).

Just one in seven Americans say the country is headed in the right direction (15%). Nine in ten Republicans (89%), two-thirds of independents (65%), and 46% of Democrats say things in the country are off on the wrong track.

President Biden’s approval rating among all Americans stands at 42%. Seventy-eight percent of Democrats approve of Biden’s job performance, while just 10% of Republicans feel the same. Independents are in line with the general population, with 41% approving of Biden's job performance.

The U.S. economy is the top issue Americans would like to see Biden prioritize (49%). This month, unifying the country as a priority has moved up four points since last month (24%), overtaking immigration (20%) as the next highest priority.

Looking at individual issues, Biden receives the highest scores on his handling of the pandemic (51%), followed by the environment (43%), and employment and jobs (43%). He receives the lowest approval ratings on corruption (28%) and inflation (28%).

When asked which political party has the best approach to key issues, Americans are more likely to report that Republicans have a better approach to the economy (34%) than Democrats (25%). Republicans are also perceived as being slightly better on jobs and employment (33%) than Democrats (29%). Americans believe Democrats have a better approach to women’s rights (43%), the environment (39%), healthcare (36%), gun violence and control (35%), and education (34%) compared to Republicans (17% for women’s rights, 17% for the environment, 19% for healthcare, 24% for gun violence, and 23% for education). Americans are equally likely to report that Republicans (29%) and Democrats (28%) have the best approach to foreign policy.

Looking at some of the current issues of the day, a strong majority of Americans support banning the social media app, TikTok, from government-owned devices (76%). Fifty-eight percent of Americans support making it harder for migrants to claim asylum at the southern border while 40% oppose this. A majority supports the student loan forgiveness program (53%) and 45% oppose it. A strong majority of Americans oppose federal courts overturning the FDA approval of one of the medications used in medication abortions (70%). Fifty-eight percent of Americans oppose increasing the federal debt ceiling.

About the Study

This Ipsos poll was conducted March 3-5, 2023, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,023 general population adults age 18 or older.

The margin of sampling error for this study is plus or minus 3.3 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 1.15. 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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