Challenges of Nations – Special Edition USA

On November 5, Americans will elect a new head of state. But which issues are really important from the voters' point of view? This special edition of the "Challenges of Nations" study focuses on the United States of America. It includes responses from 1,877 people aged between 18 and 69. The survey was conducted by GfK between 07.23.2024 and 07.31.2024.

• The most frequently mentioned problem that urgently needs to be solved in the USA today is the development around prices and purchasing power. This is followed by immigration and integration, crime and security, and the economy in general.

• The topics of price and purchasing power development as well as immigration and integration have historically high levels of concern.

• American society is divided when it comes to immigration and integration: While older people in particular see this as a problem, the corresponding proportion is lower among younger people.

• The most frequently cited problem to be solved in the USA in the future is environmental and climate protection. This is followed by crime and security, the general economic situation, and the development around price and purchasing power.

• Older people, city dwellers, and people with a high level of education are particularly concerned about the future of environmental and climate protection.

The main concern in the USA is currently the development around price and purchasing power. This is mainly due to concerns about inflation and currency depreciation (32 percent) and complaints about the rising cost of living (6 percent). This category also includes calls for higher wages and a fairer distribution of income or higher taxes for high earners (6 percent). Immigration and integration is the second most frequently mentioned urgent issue. This includes, above all, the mentions of immigration and refugee policy (24 percent), illegal immigrants (4 percent), and border protection (9 percent). The topic of crime and security comes in third place. The most frequently mentioned specific issues were gun violence, including the demand for stricter gun laws (16 percent), crime in general and juvenile delinquency (15 percent), and strengthening the police, including the demand for stricter penalties (5 percent). 

While 53 percent of the 60- to 69-year-olds see immigration and integration as an urgent task, the proportion of people aged between 18 and 29 who shared this view is only 22 percent. There is also a division by age when it comes to crime and security, albeit not quite as extreme: 42 percent of the 60- to 69-year-olds see this as a problem that urgently needs to be solved, but only 27 percent of the 30- to 39-year-olds do. The generations are relatively united in their assessment of the issue of environmental and climate protection. Somewhat surprisingly, it is mainly the 60- to 69-year-olds who see this as a task that urgently needs to be solved today.

For the future, Americans expect the issue of environmental and climate protection in particular to be an urgent task. This primarily includes concerns about global warming and an increase in extreme weather events (20 percent). Issues such as animal welfare, food safety, and forest dieback are also included here (5 percent). The topic of crime and security is the second most frequently mentioned urgent task for the future. With a share of 9 percent, the demand for stricter gun laws is the most commonly expressed need within this category. In third place is the topic of the economy in general. Many Americans, for example, expressed concern about the topic of digitalization and AI (4 percent). However, it is not always clear from the data whether respondents are afraid of missing out on digitalization or whether their fear is that AI will put jobs at risk.     

Greater generational differences can be seen in the areas of environmental and climate protection, crime and security, and immigration and integration. Around 22 percent of people aged between 40 and 69 see immigration and integration as a problem for the future, but only around 15 percent of people under 40 share this view. As far as environmental and climate protection is concerned, it is particularly people over 60 who see this as a problem for the future (35 percent). In contrast, the proportion of people under the age of 60 who see this as a problem for the future is only around 25 percent.

The "Challenges of Nations" is a series of studies that has been conducted by the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM) since 1985. In the survey, the respondents were not given any answers but were invited to answer openly and spontaneously about the most urgent tasks that currently need to be solved in their country of residence. They were also asked which urgent tasks they expect to demand attention in the near and medium term. The survey methodology was repeatedly adapted to current technical developments in the study series (e.g., online interviews since 2023), but the question itself remained constant. This has resulted in a representative time series that provides information about the changing awareness of the population.