Survey Says Early Childhood Matters

Editors Note: Originally posted at ECIC.org

• Most voters in Michigan see early childhood development and education programs as an absolute necessity for their community. Eighty-three percent of voters see these programs as a necessity (69 percent strongly believe this).
  • This belief crosses demographic and party lines. Strong majorities of voters across demographic groups express a strong belief in the necessity of these programs for their communities.
  • Additionally, regardless of party affiliation, voters express belief in the necessity of these programs, with 85 percent of Democrats, 63 percent of Independents, and 61 percent of Republicans in strong agreement.
  • Regionally, there is similar agreement, with Wayne showing the strongest belief in their necessity (83 percent strongly), followed by the West region (70 percent), the Outer Metro region (66 percent), and the Central region (66 percent)

  

• Michiganders think that the years 0 to 5 are important to learning and growth and development for young children. There is almost unanimous agreement on the importance of these years to learning (95 percent extremely/very important, 65 percent extremely important).
  • Across partisan lines voters acknowledge the importance of these years to learning and growth: Democrats (99 percent extremely/very important, 70 percent extremely); Independents (93 percent, 64 percent); Republicans (92 percent, 60 percent).
• Voters also believe it is important to ensure all children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn. Nine out of ten voters believe this is an important concept (91 percent extremely/very important, 56 percent extremely important).
  • Again voters across partisan lines acknowledge the importance of ensuring all children enter school ready to learn: Democrats (96 percent extremely/very important, 64 percent extremely); Independents (90 percent, 58 percent); Republicans (87 percent, 49 percent).
    
    
• Despite their belief in these programs, half of voters think Michigan is spending too little money in this area. A quarter (24 percent) say they do not know whether Michigan is spending too much, too little or about the right amount, and only six percent say the state is spending too much on early childhood development and education (19 percent about right).
  • While Democrats are most likely to think too little money is being spent on early childhood development and education (63 percent too little), Independents and Republicans also come down on this side (41 percent and 48 percent too little respectively).
  • Regional patterns follow similarly, with 54 percent of Wayne voters feeling too little is being spent, followed by 51 percent of Outer Metro voters, 49 percent of Western voters, and 48 percent of Central region voters.
    
    
• The majority of voters strongly favor making the funding investments necessary to ensure all children arrive at school ready to learn, even if it increases their taxes. While intensity of support drops when voters learn of a possible increase in taxes, the majority still shows strong support for these funding investments (83 percent favor, 62 percent strongly favor without tax increase; 74 percent favor, 51 percent strongly favor with tax increase).
  • Overall support remains high across party lines, although there is a drop when a tax increase is introduced. Democrats (92 percent favor, 66 percent strongly favor without tax increase; 85 percent, 66 percent with tax increase); Independents (77 percent 60 percent without; 59 percent, 39 percent with); Republicans (81 percent, 65 percent without; 75 percent, 45 percent with).

  

• Voters also acknowledge the personal importance of protecting early childhood development and education from funding cuts. Three-quarters of voters say it is personally important to them to protect early childhood development and education from funding cuts, with 44 percent saying it is extremely important to them (31 percent very important).
  • At least six out of ten voters across demographic and political subgroups say it is extremely or very important to protect early childhood development and education from funding cuts.
• A majority of voters say they would cast their vote depending on a candidate’s position on this issue. Fifty-four percent of voters say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who came out in favor of maintaining funding for early childhood development and education (31 percent much more likely; 10 percent less likely; 32 percent no difference). Additionally, 54 percent of voters say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who came out in favor of reducing funding for early childhood development and education (38 percent much less likely; 15 percent more likely; 26 percent no difference).
  • Across party lines there is a tendency to reward or punish candidates based on their vote, although Independents tend to take less notice of candidates’ positions: Democrats (64 percent more likely to vote for candidate who supports; 66 percent less likely to vote for candidate who cuts funding); Independents (44 percent; 44 percent); Republicans (57 percent; 55 percent).
• Nearly two-thirds of voters say it is very important to maintain investment and continued funding for access to quality health care (mean 8.9 on 0-10 scale where 10 is very important to maintain and 0 is not at all important, 65 percent “10″). This component of early childhood development proves most important, followed by family support including child safety (mean 8.7, 60 percent “10″). A majority of voters say it is very important to maintain investment and continued funding for access to early education programs (mean 8.5, 54 percent “10″), access to high quality child care (mean 8.5, 53 percent “10″), and help with emotional and behavioral development (mean 8.5, 51 percent “10″).
• However, if some early childhood supports had to be cut to address the state’s budget deficit, voters say they would most want access to quality health care protected from cuts (30 percent).
• Voters agree with the need to target early childhood education funding to families in most need of assistance. Over three-quarters of voters agree with targeting funding (78 percent agree, 60 percent strongly agree). However, support is less strong when voters hear an opening sentence about helping families in need of assistance instead of providing access to all families (57 percent agree, 40 percent strong).
  • Looking at the combined numbers, Democrats and Independents show stronger agreement (72 percent agree, 53 strongly agree; 66 percent, 53 percent respectively), but even Republicans express agreement overall (65 percent agree, 47 percent strongly agree).
  • Regionally, there are only slight variations. Wayne voters express the most agreement (72 agree, 54 strongly agree), followed by voters in the Outer Metro region (66 percent, 55 percent), the Central region (67 percent, 54 percent), and the West region (67 percent, 46 percent).
• Two-thirds of voters strongly favor consolidating funding for early childhood development and education in Michigan for the purpose of coordinating spending on young children. Eighty-two percent of voters favor bringing funding initiatives together in one place (66 percent strongly favor), with only 10 percent expressing opposition.
  • Democrats, Independents, and Republicans show strong support for the consolidation of funding initiatives (86 percent favor, 71 percent strongly; 82 percent, 64 percent; and 83 percent, 66 percent respectively).
• To raise the needed revenue for early childhood development and education in Michigan, voters prove most supportive of setting aside revenue from Indian gaming. Over half of voters strongly favor this action, with 75 percent favoring it overall. This is the top funding measure or among the top funding measures for almost all demographic subgroups. Just under half strongly favor assessing a tax on beer, a ballot initiative to fund early childhood development and education programs and the state dedicating some of the money it spends on children to early childhood development and education. Across party and region, these are the top funding mechanisms.

About

Funded with a grant from the Early Childhood Investment Corporation of the State of Michigan and the Kellogg Foundation, our project began in April of 2006. The goal of the project is to form multiple collaborative bodies in the state to begin development of a comprehensive system of early childhood care and education for 0-5 year olds and their families. This system is similar to the Smart Start system of North Carolina and the state of Michigan is receiving technical assistance in our efforts from the state of North Carolina.