Americans now see reducing the budget deficit as a higher priority for the president and Congress to address than in recent years. But strengthening the economy continues to be the public’s top policy priority.

58% of those ages 18 to 29 have experienced high levels of psychological distress at least once between March 2020 and September 2022.

Evangelical Protestant adults under 40 are more likely than older evangelicals to say climate change is an extremely or very serious problem.

65% of Americans overall see clinical trials as very important, despite the time such trials add to the process of developing new treatments.

With more states authorizing the use of marijuana, the public continues to favor legalizing it for medical and recreational purposes. 

Most U.S. adults – including a solid majority of Christians and large numbers of people who identify with other religious traditions – consider the Earth sacred and believe God gave humans a duty to care for it. But highly religious Americans are far less likely than other U.S. adults to express concern about warming temperatures around the globe.

More than half of U.S. adults (56%) say they talk about science news with others at least a few times a month.

Large majorities value government investments in science and consider it important for the United States to be a world leader in scientific achievement, but few think the country is gaining ground globally.

While residential solar power generates just a fraction of the country’s overall electricity, it has continued to grow rapidly.

Overall, 46% of Americans say the statement “public health officials were unprepared for the outbreak” describes their views extremely or very well, including similar shares of Republicans and Democrats.