Cost of living and child care are at the heart of rural family concerns, survey by Save the Children shows

They survey asked respondents to name one or two top issues.
(Graph by Save the Children Action Network)

A rural-voter survey sponsored by the political arm of Save the Children, "shows that rural residents are facing several challenges, including worries about the ability to feed their children and access to good and affordable child care," reports Kristi Eaton of The Daily Yonder. According to the survey: “Rural voters deem inflation to be the greatest challenge facing rural families. In an open-ended question about the biggest problems facing families in rural areas, respondents are most apt to volunteer gas prices and inflation. When asked about specific problems in their area, 68% say children not having enough to eat is a serious problem.”

When it came to opinions on childcare, "More than half (55%) said that high-quality and affordable child care has become less accessible since the pandemic," Eaton reports. "Additionally, a majority (54%) of rural voters said there are only some or very few high-quality, affordable early education programs in their area."

Christy Gleason, executive director of Save the Children Action Network, told Eaton: "Congress and state legislatures have taken incremental steps to provide relief on child care and hunger but more must be done to address the scale of the crisis we see in these numbers. From boosting rural development in the farm bill to reviving the expanded child tax credit and increasing state and federal investments, rural families want to see bold leadership from their elected representatives in the new year.”

A bipartisan team of pollsters and staff from Save the Children will brief Congress on the findings of the survey Jan. 18, Eaton reports.