New ABC News/Ipsos poll finds many are not as well off financially as they were when Biden took office
October 11, 2024 - Washington DC - New ABC News/Ipsos polling finds that the majority of Americans feel that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have not provided enough details about the policies they would pursue as president. Most think Harris will mainly continue the policies of the Biden administration over pursuing a new direction, while most also believe Trump will continue the policies of his previous administration. On a separate note, many Americans say they are not as well off financially as they were when President Joe Biden took office. Looking ahead, slight majorities of Americans negatively rate both Harris' and Trump’s ideas for the country’s future.
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Detailed findings:
1. Majorities feel Harris and Trump have not provided enough details about their policies and expect that, if elected, their policies would be a continuation of their past administrations.
- Three in five Americans (61%) feel Harris has not done enough to provide details about the policies she would pursue as president; fewer (37%) feel she has done enough.
- By comparison, 56% of Americans feel that Trump has not done enough to provide details about the policies he would pursue in another term as president. About two in five (42%) feel Trump has done enough.
- By about two-to-one, most (65%) think Harris will mainly continue the policies of the Biden administration rather than go in a new direction (33%). However, if elected, three in four (74%) Americans would prefer Harris go in a new direction. Only about one in five (22%) would want Harris to continue the policies of the Biden administration if elected.
- Similarly, most (64%) think Trump will continue the policies of his previous administration, with few (33%) thinking he will go in a new direction. Even as most expect a continuation of the first Trump administration, more want Trump to go in a new direction (53%) over continuing the policies of his previous administration (42%).
2. Compared to when Biden took office, many say they are not as well off financially.
- A plurality, 44%, of Americans say they are not as well off as they were when Biden became president. Compared to when Biden became president, more than one in three (37%) say they are doing about the same. Only 18% of Americans say they are better off financially than when Biden became president.
- There is no difference between how Americans see Harris and Trump’s ideas for the future. Fifty-four percent of Americans give Trump a negative rating for his ideas for the country’s future, nearly identical to the 53% of Americans who say the same about Harris. Likewise, 46% of Americans rate Harris’ ideas for the country’s future positively, similar to the 44% who say the same about Trump.
About the Study
This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted October 4 to 8, 2024, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. Invitations were sent to 4,550 panelists, resulting in 2,631 completed interviews. In quality control, 51 respondents were removed for skipping half or more of the questions or completing the survey in the fastest 1 percent times. For more precise analysis, the survey includes oversamples of n=125 Black people, n=153 Hispanic people and n=147 people age 18-29, with these groups scaled to their correct proportion of the population in weighting.
The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the 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. KnowledgePanel members receive a per survey incentive, usually the equivalent of $1 (though for some it is $2) in points, that can be redeemed for cash or prizes. No prenotification email was sent prior to field. Panelists receive a unique login to the survey and are only able to complete it one time. Two email reminders were sent to hard-to-reach respondents. Hard-to-reach is defined as 18-29 years old or non-Whites, less than high school or did not vote in the 2020 presidential election. The remainder of the sample received one reminder email.
The study was conducted in both English and Spanish. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region by metropolitan status, household income, language dominance, 2020 presidential vote choice, and party identification. The demographic benchmarks came from 2024 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS) from the US Census Bureau. Language dominance benchmarks are from the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS). The 2020 presidential vote choice benchmarks came from the federal elections 2020 election results for the U.S. President while the Party Identification came from the 2024 National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS). 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 (No high school diploma or GED, High school graduate (high school diploma or the equivalent GED), Some college or Associate’s degree, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or above)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) by 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+)
- Language Dominance (English dominant, Bilingual, Spanish dominant, non-Hispanic)
- 2020 Presidential Vote Choice (Biden, Trump, Another candidate, Not asked)
- Party Identification (Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Not lean, Lean Democrat, Democrat).
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.0 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 1.13. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. Sampling error is only one potential source of error. There may be other unmeasured non-sampling error in this or any poll. 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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Source: Ipsos
