Report · Apr 17, 2020
American Public Responses to COVID-19 – April 2020
By Matthew Ballew, Parrish Bergquist, Matthew Goldberg, Abel Gustafson, John Kotcher, Jennifer Marlon, Seth Rosenthal, Edward Maibach and Anthony Leiserowitz
Filed under: Messaging
1. Public Health/Economic Trade-Off
1.1. Stopping the epidemic versus stopping the economic decline.
More than eight in ten Americans say stopping the spread of the coronavirus, even if the economy gets worse, is more important than stopping the decline in the economy, even if more people get infected by the coronavirus.
1.2. Across demographic groups, large majorities of Americans say stopping the spread of the coronavirus is more important than stopping the decline of the economy.
The majorities that prioritize stopping the spread of the coronavirus span numerous demographic categories, including urban, suburban and rural residents; race and ethnicity; income; gender; education; employment status; political party identification; 2016 presidential vote choice; age; and frequency of religious service attendance. Notably, people who have been laid off or are looking for work, Republicans, and Trump voters all prioritize stopping the spread of coronavirus over stopping the decline in the economy.
