To help bolster the case for greater public investment in aging services, LeadingAge National recently commissioned polling on attitudes about how our county supports older adults. The results are stronger and more decisive than anticipated – bipartisan majorities of Americans want real support for older adults—and they want it now. LeadingAge plans to leverage this information to advocate with Congress and the Administration. Watch for LeadingAge’s press release and a social media kit soon. In addition, LeadingAge National plans to hold a live zoom meeting for the LeadingAge community to dig into these findings and answer questions about how best to use them.
Here is a snapshot of poll findings, fielded June 2021:
Americans agree that now is the time to focus on our nation’s older adults.
- 85% of Americans agree that now is the right time to think about building a better aging services system for our seniors. (91% of Democrats, 83% of Independents and 80% of Republicans agree).
- Nearly one in five Americans say the President and Congress should be focused on improving care and services for seniors as a priority in the next few months.
Support for greater investment in services for older adults is overwhelming and bipartisan.
- 86% say the government must make a bigger investment in services and care for seniors. This includes 92% of Democrats, 80% of Republicans, and 84% Independents.
Americans overwhelmingly support the proposed investments for older adults that are currently on the table.
- 89% of Americans support public investment in affordable home care services to help older adults with essential needs like bathing and dressing, medication management, transportation, and basic daily chores.
- 86% support public investment in housing and support for low-income older adults to address the shortage and waiting lists that lead to homelessness, instability, and skipping meals and medicine to pay rent.
- 83% support public investment in broadband internet to ensure equitable access for older adults who need this basic utility for telehealth and other care services, and to fight social isolation.
The public believes that care and services like those currently proposed by the President and Congress are a basic right, and that the government plays a critical role in fulfilling society’s obligation to ensure they are available.
- 85% of Americans agree that every American has a right to receive a basic level of housing, healthcare, and essential support regardless of age (92% of Democrats, 85% of Independents, and 75% of Republicans agree).
- 91% of Americans agree that older Americans should have the support and resources they need to lead a fulfilling life (93% of Democrats, 92% of Independents, and 88% of Republicans agree).
- 89% of Americans agree that the government has an important role in ensuring that seniors are taken care of.
- Only 22% of Americans think the amount of money we spend on older people is too high (14% of Republicans, 13% of Independents, and 31% of Democrats).
Americans say older adults are not treated well in the United States and that elected officials have failed them.
- More than half of all Americans say that older adults are not treated well in the United States.
- 83% of Americans say that elected officials have failed older adults and the people who care for them by ignoring and underfunding America’s aging services for decades. The gaps and shortcomings of our government’s system have created unnecessary hardship and struggle for too many families who cannot access or afford the care they need.
*Poll methodology: 3W Insights, a D.C.-based research driven strategic consultancy, polled adults about their perceptions of how older adults are treated in the United States for LeadingAge. The online survey of 800 Americans ages 18 and over was fielded June 15-20, 2021, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5%. The margin of error is larger for subgroups.
