**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
Most AAPI Adults Continue to Think the Cost of Healthcare, Food, and Housing Should be Top Priorities for Congress
Many Think the Government Spends Too Little on Key Policy Areas
CHICAGO, March 12, 2025 – As Congress faces a March 14 deadline to avoid a partial federal government shutdown, a new AAPI Data/AP-NORC Poll finds that most Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) adults think Congress should prioritize addressing the costs of health care (79%), food (67%), and housing (61%). About 4 in 10 say the same about the cost of aging and long-term care (45%), childcare (43%), higher education (42%), gas (42%), and home energy (37%). These preferences to see progress on costs are persistent with views largely unchanged from over a year ago in December 2023.¹
Many AAPI adults believe the government is spending too little on a variety of policy areas, with education (64%) and healthcare (59%) topping the list. Similar shares also say funding is insufficient for tackling homelessness (57%), environmental protection (57%), childcare (56%), crime (54%), and drug addiction (48%). Defense is the only area where relatively few (12%) say spending is too low and about half (52%) believe the government spends too much.
“The data show that amid economic uncertainty, AAPI adults—like much of the U.S. public—are focused on basic necessities,” says Jennifer Benz, deputy director of The AP-NORC Center. “Healthcare, food, and housing costs remain at the forefront of their concerns, reinforcing the importance of economic stability, which has consistently emerged as a major issue for AAPI communities.”
Similar to the general population who were asked in January 2025, AAPI adults show little support for major changes to the federal workforce under President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. About 4 in 10 AAPI and U.S. adults support a proposal that would bring federal employees back to an office five days a week, roughly a quarter favor moving federal agencies outside Washington, D.C. and cutting a large number of federal jobs, while just 12% of AAPI adults support eliminating federal agencies, even lower than the 23% of the general population.
Despite the lack of support for the DOGE proposals, AAPI communities, like the general population, see the issues the initiative aims to address as major problems. A majority view corruption, inefficiency, and government red tape as major problems in the federal government. However, concerns about civil servants resisting the president’s agenda are lower among AAPI adults (30%) and the general public (34%).
“The survey reveals that the frustration AAPI communities have with government bureaucracy does not equate to support for drastic cuts,” says Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of AAPI Data and researcher at UC Berkeley. “AAPI communities want the federal government to do more and deliver effectively on key issues like education, health care, homelessness, and environmental protection.”
As parts of the country grapple with a measles outbreak, about 6 in 10 AAPI adults are concerned that declining vaccination rates will lead to more disease outbreaks (64%) and deaths (61%).
Most across AAPI communities (72%) favor restrictions on processed foods, slightly higher than the general population (66%). However, there is less consensus on other recent health proposals. Views on removing fluoride from drinking water are split – 31% favor, 32% oppose, while 37% remain neutral. Similarly, 27% support reconsidering vaccine recommendations, though 35% oppose the idea and 37% are neutral. Just 18% favor removing restrictions on raw milk sales, while 40% are opposed and 41% are neutral.
On immigration policy, 31% of AAPI adults believe local police should always cooperate with federal immigration authorities on deportations, compared to 42% of the general population. More people in both groups support cooperation in some cases (56% vs. 49%), while relatively few say local police should never cooperate with federal authorities (13% vs. 8%).
About 4 in 10 support increasing green cards for backlogged countries (44%), worker visas (43%), and family-sponsored green cards (40%), though nearly as many prefer to keep current levels unchanged. Student visas receive the least support for expansion at 34%, with half (50%) preferring no change.
¹The December 2023 AAPI Data/AP-NORC Poll asked “How much of a priority for Congress should addressing the following be:”
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About the Study
The nationwide study was conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and AAPI Data from February 4–11, 2025, using the Amplify AAPI Monthly survey drawing from NORC’s Amplify AAPI® Panel designed to be representative of the U.S. Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander household population. Online and telephone interviews were offered in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Korean with 1,170 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders aged 18 and older living in the United States. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.7 percentage points.
About the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research
The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research taps into the power of social science research and the highest-quality journalism to bring key information to people across the nation and throughout the world.
The Associated Press (AP) is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day. www.ap.org
NORC at the University of Chicago is one of the oldest objective and nonpartisan research institutions in the world. www.norc.org
The two organizations have established The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research to conduct, analyze, and distribute social science research in the public interest on newsworthy topics, and to use the power of journalism to tell the stories that research reveals. Learn more at www.apnorc.org.
About AAPI Data
AAPI Data is a leading research and policy organization producing accurate data to shift narratives and drive action toward enduring solutions for Asian American (AA) and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities across the nation. AAPI Data aspires to transform public and private systems to ensure that all AA and NHPI communities are recognized, valued, and prioritized. Learn more at aapidata.com. Email press@aapidata.com for more questions.