It’s not a surprise, or a stretch, to say that the world has changed drastically over the past six years. One of the greatest shifts being the welcoming of a global pandemic, which has affected everyone and everything around the world. At the same time we are dealing with drastic changes in our world order, and countries across the globe are dealing with a new style of populism, adding to the unpredictability. In 2021 we thought it would be interesting to see how Americans were feeling about things and if they felt that they would be better off being in the United States or somewhere else when it came to healthcare, education, and personal economics. We repeated this exercise in 2022 and then last month. While there are interesting findings across all of the measurements we asked (more on that will be released soon) the views that Americans hold around the affordability of healthcare stuck out to us. Healthcare and affordability are a clear focus of the upcoming US elections, and there seems to be a good reason why. To say that people are feeling squeezed would be an understatement, but what is more interesting is how this feeling is now prevalent in all levels of household income cohorts. In 2021, Americans making less than $120k a year were relatively unified in their view of whether or not the US was the best bet for affordable healthcare. A year later the concern was more concentrated in those making $80k or less. Fast forward four years and how the views from less than $40k to those making more than $120k are nearly identical. Key
Takeaways:
Income Levels Unite. In 2021, with the exception of people making more than 120K a year, Americans were split down the middle at every income level when it came to thinking about where they would be better off to have access to affordable healthcare. In 2022 there was decisive movement towards being better off in another location across the board. In 2026, Americans have moved back to feeling that the US is a better bet for them on this topic, with results closer to 2021. The one bigger change, as mentioned above, is the similar views across the income spectrum.
Ed and Gender. When looking at the differences between gender and education levels, there are some interesting differences that have been present since 2021. Five years ago there was minimal difference between men and women who do not have a college degree. Men with a college degree were more in line with these cohorts, while women with a college degree had the highest concentration of those who felt that they would be better off somewhere else when it came to having access to affordable healthcare. This pattern has continued in 2026 with college educated women having the lowest concentration of those feeling that the US is the best place to be, and an nearly equal concentration feeling that somewhere else would make the most sense when it comes to affordable healthcare.
Trump voters have a brighter outlook on the cost of healthcare in the United States. Looking at who Americans voted for in 2020 (in order to be able to compare the 2021, 2022, and 2026 results), Americans who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 have been relatively consistent in their views on where they would be better off for affordable healthcare. 2020 Trump voters on the other hand have moved considerably from March of 2021, right after their preferred candidate left office, to Mid-2022 when the Biden Administration was in charge, to this year. In 2021, 54% of Trump voters felt the US was a better place to have access to affordable healthcare. One year later that number dropped to 43%, and has now rebounded to 71% last August. Biden voters, and those who did not vote for President in 2020, have been much more consistent in their view with a 9 point spread across the six years for Biden voters, and the same for non-2020 voters.
