The results are in! American voters know now what early learning advocates have known for years: if we want our children to have a strong start in life, we need the country to make serious investments in early childhood education, and we need to make them now.
The First Five Years Fund is delighted to release the results of a national survey of voters which finds that a significant majority of Republicans, Independents and Democrats support a plan to help states and local communities provide better early childhood education programs to parents of children from birth to age five. Conducted by the bipartisan research team of Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research, the national telephone survey of 800 registered voters found overwhelming support for ensuring that children gain the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.
Here are the big takeaways:
Early childhood education is a national priority.
86 percent of voters say giving children a strong start is a national priority, second only to increasing jobs and economic growth—and more important even than reducing the tax burden on families.
We need to do more to prepare our children for success.
70 percent of voters say we should be doing more to ensure that children begin kindergarten with the proper knowledge and skills to succeed.
Parents need help, and voters think they should get it.
89 percent say it is important to make early education and childcare more affordable, and 86 percent want the federal government make quality early learning programs more accessible to low- and middle-income families.
There is overwhelming support for a federal plan.
An astounding 70 percent of respondents support the plan to help states and local communities provide better early childhood education, giving greater access to kids who need it most.
Support for a plan is broad-based and widespread among a majority of Republicans, Independents and Democrats.
Congress should act now.
63 percent of voters want Congress to take action now on the plan to invest in quality early education programs.
Download a one-pager fact sheet on polling results
Download a detailed report on polling results