Report · Money and Finance

Few Americans feel obligated to financially support an incarcerated relative

Reading

Just 20% of Americans agree that families should financially support incarcerated relatives during their incarceration, including 6% who strongly agree, according to a March 2026 Verasight survey.

A larger share disagrees (36%, including 14% who strongly disagree), while the largest group of all, 44%, stays neutral.

Topline

response scale

Topline scale

Few Americans feel obligated to financially support an incarcerated relative.

People should provide financial support to their incarcerated family members during their incarceration period.

  • Neutral 44.2%
  • Disagree 21.6%
  • Agree 14.2%
  • Strongly disagree 13.9%
  • Strongly agree 6.0%

2026 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.5%

Verasight Client Omnibus Survey #2026-044

View source

Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2026-03-06 → 2026-03-16
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.5%
Module
Module 2: Economics, Work, & Policy

Source

Citation

Verasight Client Omnibus Survey #2026-044, fielded March 6-16, 2026, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.5%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/omnibus-2026-044#q-2-21

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.