By wide margins, young voters under age 30 believe the U.S. is spending too little on children (65% too little to 7% too much). By a more than 4-to-1 margin, senior citizens also believe government spend too little versus too much (42-10%).
When it comes to more specific policies, the percentage of those who believe we are spending too little often rises. For example, the margin rises to more than 12-to-1 when it comes to reducing child poverty (74% too little to 6% too much).
On other issues, such as reducing child hunger (71-4%), reducing child abuse and neglect (65-4%), and reducing child homelessness (65-9%), young voters overwhelmingly believe we are spending too little rather than too much on children.
Young voters also believe that we are spending too little rather than too much on public education (68% too little to 13% too much), assistance for childcare expenses (72-6%), and early childhood education (68-15%), providing affordable child health coverage (55-4%), and accessing mental health services (65-10%).
Furthermore, although the poll was conducted before the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, young voters believed we were making too little investments for children on the issue of preventing gun violence by a 59-11% margin.
Senior citizens also feel we spend too little on these issues: child poverty (52% too little to 7% too much), child hunger (66-5%), child abuse and neglect (58-5%), child homelessness (58-6%); public education (53-13%), early childhood (51-6%), child care (48-18%), health coverage (42-6%), mental health (61-8%), and gun violence prevention (53-12%).