- Utahns are more likely than the national average to trust Republicans over Democrats to reduce the cost of living, with trust rising among higher-income residents.
- Men and women in Utah differ in economic priorities: women are more concerned about housing costs, and men are more concerned about retirement savings.
- Republicans favor less government intervention in the economy, while Democrats emphasize expanding government-provided goods and services to improve affordability.
Utahns are more likely to trust Republicans to reduce the cost of living in the United States, while nationally, respondents were more likely to trust Democrats, according to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll conducted by Morning Consult.
The national poll showed 35% of respondents saying they favor Democrats’ approach to lowering cost of living, while 33% said they favor Republicans. Almost a quarter (22%) said they trust neither, and 9% didn’t know or didn’t have an opinion.
The trend was a bit different in Utah: 36% of respondents said they trust Republicans, 30% said they trust neither, 24% said they trust Democrats and 10% said they didn’t know/didn’t have an opinion.
As of late-November, 50% of Utahns are registered Republicans, 30% are unaffiliated, 14% are Democrats, 5% are Independent and 1% are Libertarians.
Utahns’ support for Republicans’ economic plan grows with income
Utahns were more likely to believe Republicans in Congress could adequately address cost of living, as their annual income increased.
- 31% of those earning under $50,000 annually trusted Republicans’ approach.
- 36% of those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 annually trusted Republicans’ approach.
- 42% of those earning at least $100,000 annually trusted Republicans’ approach.
On the other hand, trust in Democrats to address affordability went down as a state resident’s income went up. About a quarter of everyone making $100,000 or less trusted Democrats to handle affordability. This number dropped to 16% for those making $100,000 or more a year.
This trend seemed to vanish on a national scale. Around 33% of every economic group said they trusted Republicans more, and about 35% of every economic group saying they had more trust in Democrats.
Men and women differ in top economic concerns
In Utah, about half of both men and women said their top economic concern was inflation. Following three years of spiked inflation rates related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s current inflation rate is sitting at 3%.
Across the board, housing costs were the next priority for Utahns at 18%, and retirement and job loss followed suit at 13%.
However, split by sex, women in Utah were much more likely to say their top concern was housing costs (22%) than men (13%). Men were more worried about saving for retirement (17%) than women (10%).
Nationally, respondents’ top concern was also inflation, followed by worries about having enough to save for retirement.
As a whole, American men and women responded similarly on worries about housing costs and job losses. But women reported much more concern about inflation than men — 52% to 44% — and men were more concerned about retirement savings than women — 16% to 11%.
How do Republicans and Democrats differ in economic approach?
Traditional conservatism advocates for less government intervention in the free market, as the party believes it leads to inefficiency and higher costs for all Americans.
As Jesse Arm, the vice president of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute, previously told the Deseret News, “Oftentimes, the best thing the government can do is just less.”
On the other hand, Democrats typically aim to address affordability by increasing the width of what the government takes care of. For recently elected Democrats, this looks like rent freezes, utilities freezes, taxpayer-funded child care and more.
Democrats like New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani advocate for higher taxes on the rich to subsidize government-provided goods for the poor. However, some argue that high taxes on the rich and free goods for the poor reduce incentives to work, slowing the economy.