National Survey Shows Americans Want President and Congress to Assign Higher Priority to Medical Progress
Survey Shows Americans Want President and Congress to Assign Higher Priority to Medical Progress and for U.S. to be a Global Leader in Science and Technology
A Research!America-commissioned survey released today reveals strong bipartisan support for investment in research and innovation in the U.S.
Survey findings show that 92% of Americans across the political spectrum believe President Trump and the new Congress should elevate the priority of medical progress, and a similar percentage think it’s important for the U.S. to be a global leader in health research.
The survey found overwhelmingly support, 9 in 10 Americans across the political spectrum who said it is important, for the federal government to fund chronic disease research, and the same majority believe it is important for the federal government to fund infectious disease research.
The survey found that 9 in 10 Americans want the U.S. to be a global leader in science and technology (S&T), but 78% of Americans are concerned that China will surpass the U.S. as the world’s leading S&T power. A majority across the political spectrum say Congress should invest more tax dollars to advance S&T.
“The American people do not want our nation to take the back seat to China or any other nation,” said Research!America President and CEO Mary Woolley. “Across the political spectrum, Americans want our nation to lead the world in combating deadly and debilitating health threats. They support strong federal investment in science and technology that will enable the U.S. to lead the world in technologies such as AI and quantum computing. Among tough trade-offs in federal spending priorities, 6 in 10 Americans want Congress to invest more tax dollars to advance science and technology. That’s a strong statement.”
Nearly Half of Adults Surveyed Are Pessimistic about Children’s Future
Nearly half (45%) of respondents believe their children will be worse off when they grow up; the three top reasons cited were too much time on social media (62%), inflation (56%), and growing social and political divides (53%). Of the 23% of respondents who say their children will be better off when they grow up, the most cited reason is S&T. The survey also finds that 48% say investments in S&T are creating jobs for all or most people in this country, up from 33% in 2024.
Survey respondents agree that vaccines have had a positive impact on health and disease prevention. 86% agree that childhood vaccines have saved lives and 74% are confident about the safety of vaccines used today. However, half of respondents worry that not all the childhood vaccines are necessary, and 40% worry that childhood vaccines cause harm.
Trust in Health Care Professionals and Scientists
When asked about respondents’ confidence in different professions to act in their best interests, nurses ranked the highest at 92%, followed by doctors at 88% and K-12 teachers and scientists at 78%. Respondents also noted that health care providers (89%) and scientists (84%) are among the most trusted sources of medical and health information.
Other Notable Survey Findings:
- 88% say improving quality of K-12 STEM education should be a higher priority
- 86% of Americans are concerned about the mental health status of youth in this country and only 30% say federal investment in mental health research has been about right or adequate.
The online survey was conducted by Zogby Analytics on behalf of Research!America in late December, early January, among 1,005 adults plus 1,205 additional adults for minority oversampling. The survey has a theoretical error of +/- 3.1 percentage points. Contact Glenn O’Neal, Senior Director of Communications, at 571-482-2737 or [email protected] with press inquiries.
For more than 30 years, Research!America has commissioned public opinion surveys to help understand Americans’ views on medical, health, and scientific research and other pressing issues related to public health, research, and innovation. For a snapshot of the findings, go here, and for full results of the 2025 survey, please visit the Research!America survey page here.