American Values
Entertainment, clothes, autos and food are low on the list

As and when the economy grows, most people would like to see a disproportionate share of that growth going to increased spending on healthcare, education and defense. Only a few people think that food, clothes, housing, automobiles and transportation, or leisure and entertainment should be high priorities for economic growth.

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 3,462 adults surveyed online between May 19 and 27, 2003, with the same methodology used by Harris Interactive® to predict the 2000 U.S. elections with great accuracy.

When asked which of eight major segments of the economy should be the highest priority for future growth, most people picked healthcare (34 percent), education (29 percent), or defense (27 percent). Very few people picked any of the other items – housing (4 percent), food (3 percent), automobiles and transportation (1 percent), leisure and entertainment (less than .05 percent) or clothes (less than 0.5 percent). When people were asked to give both their first and second choices, the same three areas of spending top the list, but the gap between them widens somewhat. Fully 67 percent pick healthcare as their first or second choice, 53 percent pick education and 46 percent choose defense.

Differences by age
There are substantial differences in attitudes and priorities among the different segments of the population. While healthcare is high on the list for all segments, it is higher among people aged 40 and over than among people under 40. Among people aged 18 to 24, 39 percent pick education, 25 percent pick defense and only 23 percent pick health care. And among those aged 25 to 29, 36 percent pick education, 29 percent pick health care and 24 percent pick defense.

Differences by political philosophy
There are also substantial differences among the priorities of Republicans, Democrats and Independents as well as among conservatives, moderates and liberals. Healthcare tops the list of priorities among Democrats (42 percent) and independents (39 percent) as well as among liberals (48 percent) and moderates (35 percent). Only 22 percent of Republicans and 23 percent of conservatives choose healthcare as their No. 1 priority, whereas 45 percent of both groups pick defense as their top priority for future growth.

A paradox
One of the most striking findings in this survey is that much of healthcare, most of education and all of defense are paid for out of taxes, whereas the other items on the list, which only a few people regard as equally high priorities for increased spending and growth – housing, food, automobiles, entertainment and clothes – are mostly paid for with after-tax dollars by individual consumers.

A visitor from outer space who looked at these numbers might conclude that most Americans would be strongly supportive of much higher taxation to spend on healthcare, education and defense. This visitor would be puzzled by the popularity of politicians who favor tax cuts and, by implication, less money for the segments of the economy which the public believes should grow the fastest.

In commenting on these numbers, Ian Morrison, Ph.D., the well-known futurist, observed, “This is striking evidence that the American public favors more spending on public goods like health, education and defense. Despite recent tax cuts, politicians will continue to feel pressure to expand these sectors. In particular, healthcare seems destined to increase substantially as a share of the economy, not only because of the often-cited driving forces of aging and technology, but because the public wants increased investment in health services. The official government forecast of healthcare taking 17 percent of GNP by 2011 may prove to be a severe underestimate of healthcare’s role in the future.”

Humphrey Taylor is the chairman of The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive.
editorial@lanereport.com

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