Loading…
Whether the country spends too much, too little, or about the right amount on social Security (GSS, since 1973). The ANES line asks whether federal spending should be increased, kept the same, or decreased.
Latest: 64% answered “Too little” in ANES, 2024.
Dashed lines mark changes in how interviews were done, which can shift answers: 1. ANES → mixed mode (2012).
Dashed lines mark changes in how interviews were done, which can shift answers: 1. GSS → web (2021).
Shares of people whose answer maps onto these categories (non-answers and answers outside the scale are left out), because surveys differ in whether they offer “don’t know.” Each column is one survey wave, evenly spaced rather than to scale in time; hover for exact shares.
Dashed lines mark changes in how interviews were done, which can shift answers: 1. ANES → mixed mode (2012); 2. GSS → web (2021).
Shares of people whose answer maps onto these categories (non-answers and answers outside the scale are left out), because surveys differ in whether they offer “don’t know.” Each point is one survey wave at the middle of its field period. Lines from different surveys are never spliced together.
Groups differ from everyone by 7 points on average across all answers, in GSS.
| Line | Question | Match | How answers map |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANES | Federal spending on Social Security FEDERAL SPENDING - GENERAL TEXT
If you had a say in making up the federal budget this year, for which (1986 AND LATER: of the following) programs would you like to see spending increased and for which would you like to see spending decreased:
Should federal spending on [ITEM] be increased, decreased or kept about the same?
Social Security Caveat: ANES asks whether federal spending should be increased, kept the same, or decreased. | similar | Increased → Too little; Same → About right; Decreased → Too much; Cut out entirely (volunteered) → Too much |
| GSS | Spending on Social Security We are faced with many problems in this country, none of which can be solved easily or inexpensively. I'm going to name some of these problems, and for each one I'd like you to name some of these problems, and for each one I'd like you to tell me whether you think we're spending too much money on it, too little money, or about the right amount. First (READ ITEM A) . . . are we spending too much, too little, or about the right amount on (ITEM)?
M. Social Security | identical | Too little → Too little; About right → About right; Too much → Too much |
Dashed lines mark changes in how interviews were done, which can shift answers: 1. GSS → web (2021).
Groups differ from everyone by 6 points on average across all answers, in GSS.
Dashed lines mark changes in how interviews were done, which can shift answers: 1. GSS → web (2021).
Subgroup charts are picked automatically. Of every breakdown in the data (party, ideology, age, sex, race, education, income, region, religion, and community type), these two put their groups furthest from everyone’s answers: the gap is averaged across all answer categories and waves, with each group weighted by its share of respondents. Party and ideology count as one choice, so the second chart shows a different kind of split. Groups with an effective sample under 50 in a wave are left out of that wave.