A survey conducted in July 2025 found that the most important issue for ***percent of Americans was inflation and prices. A further ***percent of respondents were most concerned about jobs and the economy.

In December 2024, 11 percent of survey respondents said that the most important problem facing the United States was the high cost of living and inflation. Another 20percent said that the government and poor leadership was the most serious concern for the nation.

In this 2018 survey, eight percent of respondents stated they think the biggest problem for the United States today is Donald Trump. In fact, most of the important problems mentioned are somehow related to the current POTUS – the most mentioned one being immigration and racism.

A country divided

Since Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, political camps in the United States are deeply divided and global politics is in turmoil; Trump’s job approval ratings are notoriously low, and in fact, they are lower than Reagan’s or Nixon’s averages ever were. Trump’s leadership is controversial at best and his executive orders often cause protests, especially among Democrats and liberals – like the travel ban for Muslims.

On the other side

One of Trump’s main campaign promises was a wall on the border with Mexico in order to keep potential illegal immigrants out and enhance security for American citizens. When he did not get the majority for this plan, he declared a national emergency to force the budget to be allocated, even though the majority of Americans did not support this idea, and it is unclear if the situation at the Mexican border actually warrants it. In fact, the total number of unauthorized immigrants has decreased over the last few years and today, many Americans believe that their country benefits from immigrants and their work .

According to the data from 2025, some 16 percent of respondents said that rising health care costs were the most important health issue facing the United States. Cancer ranked second on the list with 15 percent. Issues with healthcare costsCurrently, the most urgent problem facing American healthcare is the high costs of care. The high expense of healthcare may deter people from getting the appropriate treatment when they need medical care or cause them to completely forego preventative care visits. Many Americans reported that they may skip prescription doses or refrain from taking medication as prescribed due to financial concerns. Such health-related behavior can result in major health problems, which may raise the long-term cost of care. Inflation, medical debt, and unforeseen medical expenses have all added to the burden that health costs are placing on household income. Gun violence issueThe gun violence epidemic has plagued the United States over the past few years, yet very little has been done to address the issue. In recent years, gun violence has become the leading cause of death among American children and teens. Even though more than half of Americans are in favor of tougher gun control regulations, there is little political will to strongly reform the current gun law. Gun violence has a deep traumatic impact on survivors and society, it is developing into a major public health crisis in the United States.

United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: A Year Ago: Others data was reported at 5.000 % in Mar 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6.000 % for Feb 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: A Year Ago: Others data is updated monthly, averaging 7.000 % from Jan 2014 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 131 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.000 % in May 2023 and a record low of 3.000 % in Jul 2024. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: A Year Ago: Others data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Federation of Independent Business. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S042: NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

This poll is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. In this poll, respondents were asked about President Ronald Reagan's performance in office and the government's handling of the economy, with a special focus on United States involvement in Latin America. Demographic information on respondents includes age, sex, race, educational level, employment status, political party affiliation, voting history, and marital status.

According to a 2023 survey, young adults in the United States were divided when it came to important political issues. However, more than half of Americans between ** and ** considered the cost of living and inflation the most important political issue.

Supplementary Empirical Teaching Units in Political Science (SETUPS) for American Politics are computer-related modules designed for use in teaching introductory courses in American government and politics. The modules are intended to demonstrate the process of examining evidence and reaching conclusions and to stimulate students to independent, critical thinking and a deeper understanding of substantive content. They enable students with no previous training to make use of the computer to analyze data on political behavior or to see the results of policy decisions by use of a simulation model. The SETUPS: AMERICAN POLITICS modules were developed by a group of political scientists with experience in teaching introductory American government courses who were brought together in a workshop supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation in the summer of 1974. The American Political Science Association administered the grant, and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research was host to the workshop and provided data for most of the SETUPS. The modules were tested and evaluated during the 1974-1975 academic year by students and faculty in 155 classes at 69 universities and colleges. Appropriate revisions were made based upon this experience. This collection comprises 15 separate modules: (1) Political Socialization Across the Generations, (2) Political Participation, (3) Voting Behavior, The 1980 Election, (4) Elections and the Mass Media, (5) The Supreme Court in American Politics, Court Decisions, (6) The Supreme Court in American Politics, Police Interrogations, (7) The Dynamics of Political Budgeting, A Public Policy Simulation, State Expenditures, (8) The Dynamics of Political Budgeting, A Public Policy Simulation, SIMSTATE Simulation, (9) The Dynamics of Political Budgeting, A Public Policy Simulation, SIMSTATE II Simulation, (10) Fear of Crime, (11) Presidential Popularity in America, Presidential Popularity, (12) Presidential Popularity in America, Advanced Analyses, (13) Campaign '80, The Public and the Presidential Selection Process, (14) Voting Behavior, The 1976 Election, and (15) Policy Responsiveness and Fiscal Strain in 51 American Communities. Parts 8 and 9 are FORTRAN IV program SIMSTATE sourcedecks intended to simulate the interaction of state policies. Variables in the various modules provide information on respondents' level of political involvement and knowledge of political issues, general political attitudes and beliefs, news media exposure and usage, voting behavior (Parts 1, 2, and 3), and sectional biases (15). Other items provide information on respondents' views of government, politics, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter as presidents, best form of government, government spending (Part 3), local police, the Supreme Court (Parts 4 and 15), the economy, and domestic and foreign affairs. Additional items probed respondents' opinions of prayer in school, abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment Law, nuclear energy, and the most important national problem and the political party most suitable to handle it (Part 3). Also included are items on votes of Supreme Court judges (Part 5), arrest of criminal suspects and their treatment by law enforcement agencies (Part 6), federal government expenditures and budgeting (Part 7), respondents' feelings of safety at home, neighborhood crime rate, frequency of various kinds of criminal victimization, the personal characteristics of the targets of those crimes (Part 10), respondents' opinions of and choice of party presidential candidates nominees (Part 13), voter turnout for city elections (15), urban unrest, and population growth rate. Demographic items specify age, sex, race, marital status, education, occupation, income, social class identification, religion, political party affiliation, and union membership.

United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey High: Inflation data was reported at 41.000 % in Mar 2025. This stayed constant from the previous number of 41.000 % for Feb 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey High: Inflation data is updated monthly, averaging 41.000 % from Jan 2014 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 131 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 41.000 % in Mar 2025 and a record low of 41.000 % in Mar 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey High: Inflation data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Federation of Independent Business. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S042: NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Inflation data was reported at 16.000 % in Mar 2025. This stayed constant from the previous number of 16.000 % for Feb 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Inflation data is updated monthly, averaging 3.000 % from Jan 2014 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 131 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 37.000 % in Jul 2022 and a record low of 1.000 % in Aug 2020. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Inflation data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Federation of Independent Business. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S042: NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

As of January 2025, approximately ** percent of exhibition companies surveyed in ***** Central and South American countries reported viewing the state of the economy in their home market as the industry's most important issue over the following 12 to 18 months. Internal management challenges ranked second, selected by ** percent of respondents.

This study is part of a quadrennial series designed to investigate the opinions and attitudes of the general public on matters related to foreign policy, and to define the parameters of public opinion within which decision-makers must operate. This public opinion study of the United States focused on respondents' opinions of the United States' leadership role in the world and the challenges the country faces domestically and internationally. The survey covered the following international topics: relations with other countries, role in foreign affairs, possible threats to vital interests in the next ten years, foreign policy goals, benefits or drawbacks of globalization, situations that might justify the use of United States troops in other parts of the world, the number and location of United States military bases overseas, respondent feelings toward people of other countries, opinions on the influence of other countries in the world and how much influence those countries should have, whether there should be a global regulating body to prevent economic instability, international trade, United States participation in potential treaties, the United States' role in the United Nations and NATO, respondent opinions on international institutions and regulating bodies such as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and the World Health Organization, whether the United States will continue to be the world's leading power in the next 50 years, democracy in the Middle East and South Korea, the role of the United Nations Security Council, which side the United States should take in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, what measures should be taken to deal with Iran's nuclear program, the military effort in Afghanistan, opinions on efforts to combat terrorism and the use of torture to extract information from prisoners, whether the respondent favors or opposes the government selling military equipment to other nations and using nuclear weapons in various circumstances, the economic development of China, and the conflict between North and South Korea. Domestic issues included economic prospects for American children when they become adults, funding for government programs, the fairness of the current distribution of income in the United States, the role of government, whether the government can be trusted to do what is right, climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, United States' dependence on foreign energy sources, drilling for oil and natural gas off the coast of the United States, and relations with Mexico including such issues as the ongoing drug war, as well as immigration and immigration reform. Demographic and other background information included age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, left-right political self-placement, political affiliation, employment status, highest level of education, and religious preference. Also included are household size and composition, whether the respondent is head of household, household income, housing type, ownership status of living quarters, household Internet access, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) status, and region and state of residence.

United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey High: Competit'n frm Big Bus data was reported at 14.000 % in Mar 2025. This stayed constant from the previous number of 14.000 % for Feb 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey High: Competit'n frm Big Bus data is updated monthly, averaging 14.000 % from Jan 2014 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 131 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 14.000 % in Mar 2025 and a record low of 14.000 % in Mar 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey High: Competit'n frm Big Bus data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Federation of Independent Business. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S042: NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey Low: Fin. & Interest Rates data was reported at 0.000 % in Mar 2025. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.000 % for Feb 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey Low: Fin. & Interest Rates data is updated monthly, averaging 1.000 % from Jan 2014 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 131 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.000 % in Jul 2019 and a record low of 0.000 % in Mar 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey Low: Fin. & Interest Rates data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Federation of Independent Business. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S042: NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

United States LS: Worsening Industry Problems (WP): Not Important data was reported at 50.000 % in Oct 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 44.400 % for Jul 2018. United States LS: Worsening Industry Problems (WP): Not Important data is updated quarterly, averaging 45.550 % from Jan 2008 (Median) to Oct 2018, with 44 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 83.300 % in Jul 2014 and a record low of 8.200 % in Jan 2009. United States LS: Worsening Industry Problems (WP): Not Important data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Federal Reserve Board. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S027: Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey: Lending Policies: Reason for Credit Tightening. Senior Loan Officer Survey Questionnaire: If your bank has tightened its credit standards or its terms for C&I loans or credit lines over the past three months, how important have been the worsening of industry-specific problems for the change?

Using a political event coding system, this data collection describes 8,768 events and press items sampled from 42,000 entries in THE NEW YORK TIMES between 1968 and 1972. These data were generated in order to apply events data to the study of the emergence and processing of political issues in the United States and to test a number of hypotheses regarding the types of events associated with various political issues. Approximately 4,600 cases are events in which an actor attempts to influence a target. The remaining cases are reports of press items such as editorials and columns. The data include: (1) whether it was a political event (i.e., one in which an actor directs some action toward a target in a political system in order to influence the behavior of the target) or a press item (i.e., information about the domestic issue from either a newspaper column or a newspaper editorial), (2) the domestic issue (one of 40 possible categories), (3) the domestic subissue, (4) the date and the page of the newspaper in which the article describing the event was found, (5) the press treatment or coverage of the event, (6) the actor initiating the event (coded in one of 100 categories including both governmental and nongovernmental actors), (7) the federal role favored by the actor regarding the issue, (8) whether the actor specialized in dealing with the issue, (9) type of action initiated by the actor, (10) the mode of action, (11) the target of the event, and (12) the weight of the event or press item.

In a survey conducted in 2022, 64 percent of the opinion leaders and prominent journalists surveyed in Latin America said that job creation and economic growth was the most important problem Latin America would face in the incoming 18 months. The second main issue according to these experts was inflation and economic instability.

This data collection is the 1990 version of a quadrennial study designed to investigate the opinions and attitudes of the general public and of a select group of opinion leaders (or elites) on matters relating to foreign policy. The primary objectives of this study were to define the parameters of public opinion within which decision makers must operate and to compare the attitudes of the general public with those of opinion leaders. For the purposes of this study, "opinion leaders" are defined as those who are in positions of leadership in government, academia, business and labor, the media, religious institutions, special interest groups, and private foreign policy organizations. Both general public and elite respondents were questioned regarding the biggest problems/foreign policy problems facing the United States today, spending levels for various federal government programs, the role of Congress in determining foreign policy, the impact of foreign policy on things such as prices and unemployment, economic aid to other nations, military aid/selling military equipment to other nations, the role of the United States in world affairs, the Bush administration's handling of various problems, government reactions to situations in Kuwait, Panama, and China, the importance of various countries to America's vital interests, possible threats/adversaries to the United States in coming years, and the use of United States military troops in other parts of the world. Other topics covered include the relative importance of several foreign policy goals, United States relations with the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Vietnam, NATO and keeping troops in western Europe, the military role of Japan and Germany, the economic unification of western Europe, the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, policy options to reduce dependence on foreign oil, the illegal drug problem, free trade, and the respondent's political party affiliation and the strength of that affiliation. In addition, general populace respondents were asked to indicate their level of political activity, how closely they followed news about several current issues and events, and to rate various foreign countries and American and foreign leaders on a feeling thermometer scale. Demographic characteristics such as religious preference, marital status, employment status, household composition, education, age, Hispanic origin, race, sex, and income also were gathered for these respondents.

United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey High: Govt Regs & Red Tape data was reported at 27.000 % in Mar 2025. This stayed constant from the previous number of 27.000 % for Feb 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey High: Govt Regs & Red Tape data is updated monthly, averaging 27.000 % from Jan 2014 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 131 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 27.000 % in Mar 2025 and a record low of 27.000 % in Mar 2025. United States SBOI: sa: Most Pressing Problem: Survey High: Govt Regs & Red Tape data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Federation of Independent Business. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.S042: NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

This article reviews evidence on the labor market performance of Hispanics in the United States, with a particular focus on the US-born segment of this population. After discussing critical issues that arise in the US data sources commonly used to study Hispanics, we document how Hispanics currently compare with other Americans in terms of education, earnings, and labor supply, and then we discuss long-term trends in these outcomes. Relative to non-Hispanic Whites, US-born Hispanics from most national origin groups possess sizeable deficits in earnings, which in large part reflect corresponding educational deficits. Over time, rates of high school completion by US-born Hispanics have almost converged to those of non-Hispanic Whites, but the large Hispanic deficits in college completion have instead widened. Finally, from the perspective of immigrant generations, Hispanics experience substantial improvements in education and earnings between first-generation immigrants and the second-generation consisting of the US-born children of immigrants. Continued progress beyond the second generation is obscured by measurement issues arising from high rates of Hispanic intermarriage and the fact that later-generation descendants of Hispanic immigrants often do not self-identify as Hispanic when they come from families with mixed ethnic origins.