Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the extension of the rent eviction moratorium authorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the latest Economist/YouGov poll, the extension is an action that the American people supported by about two to one (59% approve vs 28% disapprove).
But there are political and financial differences in support. One in five Americans (22%) report having had problems paying for their own housing during the pandemic. This was a problem most common among those with annual family incomes below $50,000 — three in 10 individuals in this group (31%) say they have had problem paying for their housing — than among those with higher incomes. Just 14% of those with a household income above $50,000 annually report housing payment problems.
Two in five Americans who are unemployed or temporarily laid-off (39%) have experienced hardship paying for rent, utilities, mortgage payments, or other housing costs. By comparison, just 14% of full-time workers said the same.
But even those who have not had housing payment issues support (57%) extending the eviction moratorium through July.
Republicans, however, are closely divided (42% approve, 47% disapprove). They are less likely than either Democrats or Independents to be affected by housing payment problems. But they are also much less likely than others to support any action by the Biden Administration. About one-quarter of Republicans (23%) approve of how President Biden is handling COVID-19. Overall, a national majority of 52% approve of President Biden’s performance on this; 27% disapprove.
See the toplines and crosstabs from this Economist/YouGov poll
Methodology: The Economist survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 1,500 US Adult Citizens interviewed online between June 26 - 29, 2021. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, and education based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the US Bureau of the Census, as well as 2016 Presidential vote, registration status, geographic region, and news interest. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of all US citizens. The margin of error is approximately 3.1% for the overall sample.
Image: Getty
