Public Perspectives Tracking Issue Priorities Americans Assess Their Most Important Issues July 2013U.S. Public Affairs

Ipsos Public Affairs (U.S.) For more information about this report or U.S. Public Affairs please contact: – John Vidmar, President, U.S. Public Affairs, , – Chris Martyn, Chief Research Officer, Public Affairs North America, , – Clifford Young, Senior Vice President, , – Paul Abbate, Senior Vice President, , – Julia Clark, Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs conducts strategic research in partnership with clients to understand and manage issues, advance reputations, determine and pinpoint shifts in attitude and opinion, enhance communications, and evaluate policy. Strategic advice is the key deliverable. At Ipsos Public Affairs, we help our clients Listen, Engage and Measure the world around them and the issues of the day. We collect and interpret the intelligence our clients need to make decisions and to move their organizations forward. We specialize in the following: Visit for information about all of our products and services. Copyright Ipsos All rights reserved. The contents of this publication constitute the sole and exclusive property of Ipsos. 2

The general themes from the data are… 3 The biggest issue remains unemployment/jobs, but concern here continues to show steady decline, and is now at the lowest point since tracking began. Concern about healthcare follows, and the trend remains steady despite increasing signals that the launch of the exchanges (part of the Affordable Care Act) in October may cause significant confusion and uncertainty around health provision. Public concern about taxation has declined with the end of US tax season, and the data shows an up-tick in public concern about terrorism in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Issue Concerns  United States  Select Other Countries 4 Public Perspectives

U.S. residents and their Canadian neighbors share two of the same top three issue concerns – healthcare and corruption. While select other countries also have some similar top issue concerns, they also differ in certain circumstances; for example immigration control in the UK, crime and violence in Brazil. 5 Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country? (List provided) Top 3 Issues U.S.CanadaUKFranceGermanyBrazilJapan Unemployment and jobs45%32%43%66%33%12%49% Health care36%40%20%13%17%60%16% Corruption (financial or political)25%37%19%23% 38%14% Moral decline22%15%21%18% 4%33% Taxes21%36%13%34%14%24%31% Crime and violence21%19% 24% 57%17% Terrorism20%4%16%6%9%1%2% Immigration control18%16%38%16%18%1%4% Education17%14%9%11%18%39%14% Poverty and social inequality16%23%28%39%55%32%35% Inflation10% 9%8%13% 9% Maintaining social programs9%8%14%5%6%1%34% Threats against the environment8%12%6%9%13%8%12% Climate change8%10%5%4%12%1%14% Rise of extremism8%6%24%19%11% --- 3% Childhood obesity6%5%4%1%7%2% --- % Identify Issue in Top 3 – U.S. and Select Comparison Countries

The issue agenda of U.S. residents has remained focused on unemployment/jobs, although its dominance continues to decline. Taxes have also fallen off now that tax season is over. Interestingly, terrorism is the only issue to have increased recently. Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country? (List provided) Tracking Select Top Issues – UNITED STATES 6 45% 36% 25% 22% 21% 20% 18% 17% 16% 8% Most Recent

Issue Concerns By Gender, Age and Income 7 Public Perspectives

Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country? (List provided) Tracking Select Top Issues – UNITED STATES 8 44% 40% 24% 19% 23% 19% 16% 20% 17% 9% 8% Most Recent WOMEN The decline in focus on unemployment/jobs is the continuation of a trend started over two years ago among women. Healthcare has almost replaced unemployment/jobs atop the list.

Unemployment/jobs has also declined as the key issue among men, although it remains firm as the highest priority among men. Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country? (List provided) Tracking Select Top Issues – UNITED STATES 9 45% 31% 26% 24% 21% 20% 19% 15% 14% 9% 7% Most Recent MEN

Healthcare has re-emerged as the second most important issue among younger residents, although education is close behind. Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country? (List provided) Tracking Select Top Issues – UNITED STATES 10 44% 28% 26% 22% 20% 19% 18% 16% 15% 10% 9% Most Recent YOUNGER (Under 35)

Healthcare has almost overtaken unemployment/jobs as a the top issue concern among middle-aged Americans. Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country? (List provided) Tracking Select Top Issues – UNITED STATES 11 Most Recent MIDDLE-AGE (35-49) 46% 39% 26% 23% 22% 21% 15% 14% 11% 6%

Unemployment/jobs remains the top issue among older residents, although healthcare is a very close second. Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country? (List provided) Tracking Select Top Issues – UNITED STATES 12 44% 41% 28% 25% 24% 23% 22% 13% 10% 7% Most Recent OLDER (50+)

While declining, unemployment/jobs remains by far the top issue among lower income households. Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country? (List provided) Tracking Select Top Issues – UNITED STATES 13 Most Recent LOWER HOUSEHOLD INCOME 53% 29% 28% 24% 20% 19% 16% 14% 10% 8%

Similarly, while declining, unemployment/jobs remains the top issue among middle income households. Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country? (List provided) Tracking Select Top Issues – UNITED STATES 14 Most Recent MIDDLE HOUSEHOLD INCOME 48% 37% 24% 23% 22% 21% 18% 17% 16% 9% 6%

Healthcare has almost overtaken unemployment/jobs as the top issue among higher income households. Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country? (List provided) Tracking Select Top Issues – UNITED STATES 15 Most Recent HIGHER HOUSEHOLD INCOME 38% 37% 29% 25% 24% 23% 19% 16% 12% 9% 8%

For more information about this Public Perspectives report or our research capabilities, please contact: © 2013 Ipsos. All rights reserved. Contains Ipsos’ Confidential, Trade Secret and Proprietary Information. The contents of this document constitute the sole and exclusive property of Ipsos (“Ipsos”) and may not be used in any manner without the prior written consent of Ipsos. Ipsos retains all right, title and interest in or to any of Ipsos' trademarks, technologies, norms, models, proprietary methodologies and analyses, including, without limitation, algorithms, techniques, databases, computer programs and software, used, created or developed by Ipsos in connection with Ipsos' preparation of this proposal. No license under any copyright is hereby granted or implied. The contents of this document are confidential, proprietary and are strictly for the review and consideration of the addressee and its officers, directors and employees solely for the purpose of information. No other use is permitted, and the contents of this document (in whole or part) may not be disclosed to any third party, in any manner whatsoever, without the prior written consent of Ipsos. 16 Clifford Young Senior Vice President Julia Clark Vice President

Data for this report were taken from Ipsos SURVEY METHODCOUNTRIESSAMPLEWEIGHTING The survey instrument is conducted monthly in 24 countries around the world via the Ipsos Online Panel system. Data are normally collected in the 2 nd and 3 rd weeks of each month. The countries normally included in the tracking include Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America. The normal sample each wave consists of an international sample of approximately 19,000 adults age in the US and Canada, and age in all other countries. Approximately individuals participate on a country by country basis via the Ipsos Online Panel with the exception of Argentina, Belgium, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey, where each have a sample approximately Weighting is employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to the most recent country Census data. A survey with an unweighted probability sample and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points for a sample of 1,000 and an estimated margin of error of +/- 4.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20 per country for a sample of 500 of what the results would have been had the entire population of adults in that country had been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. 17