Poll finds strong support among Iowans for ‘family friendly’ policies

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cathy Singer-Glasson isn't surprised that Iowans are concerned about 'bread-and-butter, day-to-day” issues like raising the minimum wage and increasing access to care for children and the elderly.

'What struck me was that support was so broad-reaching across the demographic lines and party lines,” said Singer-Glasson, president of the SEIU Local 199 labor union that represents more than 5,000 Iowa members.

'There's universal appeal among different groups of voters that have the potential to affect the outcome of elections,” she said Thursday about a poll conducted for Family Friendly Iowa, a project of SEIU and Progress Iowa, a liberal advocacy group.

The issues received support from a majority of voters across all major demographics, including men and women, younger and older voters, Democrats, Republicans and independents, college and non-college voters, union and non-union households and in every congressional district and major media market in the state.

The results 'send a message to politicians that they have to support policies that support middle class families,” said Singer-Glasson, a registered nurse.

The poll of 600 likely 2016 Iowa voters found that support for a set of issues that includes guaranteeing access to affordable, long-term care and child care and raising the minimum wage starts at 70 percent of likely voters polled. In addition, 43 percent said they are willing to take action to ensure that the policies are enacted and to support candidates who promise to elevate the issues.

Singer-Glasson was encouraged that the issues have the potential to engage 'low-propensity voters” and critical turnout groups such as unmarried women (52 percent favor/43 percent likely to get involved) and millennials (47 percent support/50 percent likely to get involved).

Progress Iowa and SEIU are organizing at caucus-related events, asking people to sign pledges to back candidates who support expanding access to affordable care and raising the minimum wage. So far, she said, more than 11,000 people have signed pledge cards.

'We're in a unique spot in the calendar right now that we have a chance to engage people on this group of issues that is incredibly popular across the party lines,” said Progress Iowa Executive Director Matt Sinovic. 'The focus is on Iowa … so we're trying to rally support around popular issues because just because they're popular doesn't mean anything will happen.”

In addition to the overall support, 39 percent said they 'strongly favor” the 'family friendly” policies. Only 23 percent opposed the policies becoming law.

There was broad support for each of the issues separately, too. The poll found 85 percent favored guaranteeing access to affordable long-term care, 78 percent favored the same for child care and 69 percent support a higher minimum wage, including 49 percent of registered Republicans and 71 percent of independents.

Anzalone Liszt Grove Research conducted the poll Oct. 6-11, calling both landlines and cellphones. Respondents were selected randomly and interviews were apportioned demographically and geographically. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.