Survey shows strong support for a state system of child care, early education, family support

A survey commissioned by a Hawaii nonprofit initiative suggests that an unusually strong three-fourths of voters here back the creation of a state system of community-based child care, early learning and family-support programs — and a majority are willing to pay more taxes for it.

The intensity of support — with the 43% of respondents who “strongly” support a state system of such programs outweighing the 31.5% who “somewhat” support one — surprised Justin Wallin, CEO of J. Wallin Opinion Research. The nationwide opinion research company was commissioned by the Commit to Keiki initiative to conduct the survey.

“We don’t usually see numbers like this,” Wallin said, referring to the overall survey. “They’re stratospheric.”

He said in comparable surveys in other states, support from about 65% of respondents has been more typical for “feel good” topics such as children’s issues, and usually those who feel “strongly” are the smaller segment of supporters.

Wallin is also surprised by the willingness of local residents to pay more taxes for such programs. Hawaii is already regularly ranked second or third among states for heaviest tax burden, and residents also have long felt the crunch of one of the highest costs of living in the nation.

When asked,“Would you be willing to pay higher taxes to support programs that benefit all young children, including infants, toddlers, preschoolers and young children with special needs?” 24.5% of those surveyed said “very” and 32.4% said “somewhat,” for a majority total of 56.9%.

“Normally, I’d expect that to drop to below half” of respondents, Wallin said.

“It’s one thing to support this. It’s another to be willing to pay for it.”

The findings are key as Hawaii’s Nov. 8 gubernatorial election approaches and 56.5% of respondents in the Commit to Keiki survey said they believe it’s the governor’s responsibility to increase access to early care and learning programs; reduce child abuse, neglect and intimate partner violence; and support family mental health needs.

The survey found 71.2% were more likely to vote for a candidate who prioritized these areas in their planned budget.

Commit to Keiki is a nonprofit, nonpartisan initiative created by partners within the nonprofit organization Early Childhood Action Strategy. The survey of 800 voters on all islands was conducted Oct. 9-16 on cellphone and landline numbers by California-based J. Wallin Opinion Research. Eight languages, including Hawaiian, were offered in addition to English. The survey claims a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The survey was commissioned because “there’s a disconnect between the values we hold close in Hawaii — that’s our protection of keiki, and support of our ohana across the islands — and the state budget, and how we invest in them,” said Kerrie Urosevich, executive director at Early Childhood Action Strategy and steering committee co-chair for Commit to Keiki.

Hawaii ranks seventh from the bottom in investment in children, according to Urban Institute statistics, Urosevich said. “We felt this was an opportunity to get the incoming governor on board with investing early in our youngest keiki so they start off on the right track.”

The state Legislature in 2020 passed a measure calling for universal access to child care and learning programs for all 3- and 4-year-olds by 2032 but gave it no funding as the pandemic descended, Urosevich said.

Building a system of high-quality child care and early education is crucial, she said, because research indicates 85% of children’s brain infrastructure is already established by age 3, and ensuring a strong workforce for Hawaii starts with keeping students’ learning and development on track.

Commit to Keiki is presenting the findings in a series of “talk story” sessions with each of Hawaii’s gubernatorial candidates that will continue into election season. The public is invited to view the sessions; more information can be found on committokeiki.org.

In other findings from the survey, support was consistently above 80% for each of three priorities named in support of early childhood development:

>> 87.7% of respondents agreed it is important for Hawaii’s next governor to prioritize programs to provide access to early care and learning.

>> 85.4% believe it is important to invest in programs that prevent family violence, such as child abuse and neglect, and intimate partner violence.

>> 82.6% agree the next governor’s budget should prioritize programs that address mental health needs for families and young children.

When asked about their satisfaction with what the state has done so far to support those three priority areas, 56.1%, 57.8% and 52.1% of the respondents, respectively, were dissatisfied.

The vast majority of those surveyed — 83% — said they feel such programs should be considered core services that cannot be cut, rather than discretionary expenses.