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How people weigh growth and inflation

Source reportMethodology

Overview

Adults prioritized avoiding recession in the forced economic tradeoff, but the broader economic evidence still showed pressure around housing and student-loan debt.

About 73% chose high inflation with a thriving economy and low unemployment over low inflation with high unemployment and recession. Roughly 68% said finding an equal or better nearby residence would be at least somewhat difficult.

Topline

73% chose a thriving economy with high inflation over recession with low inflation.

If you had to choose between one of the two options, which would you select? 1) High inflation, but a thriving economy and low unemployment or 2) Low inflation, but high unemployment and a recession

  • High inflation/Thriving economy, low unemployment 73.0%
  • Low inflation/Recession, high unemployment 27.0%

2023 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.6%

MPSA 2023 Omnibus Survey #2023-032

View source data

Adults chose growth over recession

About 73% chose high inflation with a thriving economy and low unemployment. Roughly 27% chose low inflation with high unemployment and a recession.

The result does not mean adults were comfortable with inflation. It shows that when forced to choose between two bad economic packages, recession was the less acceptable outcome.

Unemployment training drew broad support

Roughly 74% favored the government spending more on education and training programs for the unemployed, even at the cost of reducing unemployment benefits.

That includes 55% who were in favor and 19% who were strongly in favor. About 26% were against or strongly against the tradeoff.

Stacked breakdown

68% said finding an equal or better nearby residence would be at least somewhat difficult.

If you had to move to a new residence in the same area as you currently live, how difficult would it be for you to find a new place to live as good or better than your current residence?

Not difficult at all
32.1%
Somewhat difficult
35.9%
Difficult
16.3%
Extremely difficult
15.7%

2023 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.6%

MPSA 2023 Omnibus Survey #2023-032

View source data

Additional supporting data from this section.

Stacked breakdown

55% described people with student-loan debt as disadvantaged.

Relative to yourself, would you say that people with student loan debt are overall, as a group...

Very Privileged
11.3%
Somewhat Privileged
33.4%
Somewhat Disadvantaged
42.9%
Very Disadvantaged
12.4%

2023 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.6%

MPSA 2023 Omnibus Survey #2023-032

View source data

Housing still looked hard to replace

Roughly 68% said finding a nearby residence as good as or better than their current one would be at least somewhat difficult. About 32% said it would not be difficult at all.

Student-loan debt also read more as disadvantage than privilege. About 55% described people with student-loan debt as very or somewhat disadvantaged, while 45% described them as very or somewhat privileged.

Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Population
United States adults who completed both waves of the survey
Field dates
2023-04-19 → 2023-04-27
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.6%
Module
MPSA 2023 Omnibus Survey #2023-032
Sponsor
Verasight
Weight variable
weight
Weighting targets
age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status

Sources

[5]
  • 01
    If you had to choose between one of the two options, which would you select? 1) High inflation, but a thriving economy and low unemployment or 2) Low inflation, but high unemployment and a recessionAnchors the topic in the inflation and unemployment tradeoff.reports.verasight.io/reports/mpsa-2023-omnibus-survey-2023-032
  • 02
    Would you be against or in favor of the government spending more on education and training programs for the unemployed at the cost of reducing unemployment benefits?Adds a labor-market policy tradeoff.reports.verasight.io/reports/mpsa-2023-omnibus-survey-2023-032
  • 03
    If you had to move to a new residence in the same area as you currently live, how difficult would it be for you to find a new place to live as good or better than your current residence?Adds housing-mobility pressure.reports.verasight.io/reports/mpsa-2023-omnibus-survey-2023-032
  • 04
    Relative to yourself, would you say that people with student loan debt are overall, as a group...Adds perceived position of people with student-loan debt.reports.verasight.io/reports/mpsa-2023-omnibus-survey-2023-032
  • 05
    If you had to move to a new residence in the same area as you currently live, how difficult would it be for you to find a new place to live as good or better than your current residence?reports.verasight.io/reports/verasight-interdisciplinary-omnibus-survey-2024-006

Citation

MPSA 2023 Omnibus Survey #2023-032, fielded April 19-27, 2023, N=1,000 United States adults who completed both waves of the survey, +/- 3.6%.

https://reports.verasight.io/reports/mpsa-2023-omnibus-survey-2023-032#if-you-had-to-choose-between-one-of-the-two-options-which-would-you-select-1-high-inflation-but-a-thriving-economy-and-low-unemployment-or-2-low-inflation-but-high-unemployment-and-a-recession

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. Each wave's specific field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that wave's 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
Every wave is published as a standalone report at verasight.io/reports with full instrument and methodology.
Transparency
AAPOR transparency standards.

Wave-specific methodology, full weighting variable lists, and verbatim instrument text live in each report at verasight.io/reports.