No Dead Ends
JFF’s Policy Agenda for a Learn-and-Work System With Boundless Opportunities at School, at Work, and in Life
Voters across party lines agree on what matters this election year. Do you? On Super Tuesday, Jobs for the Future (JFF) launched No Dead Ends, a national campaign calling for policymakers and candidates for elected office to do two things this election year: Pursue common-sense bipartisan policy solutions that meet the needs of today’s learners and workers, and focus more intently on the kitchen-table issues that voters really care about. In June, just before the first 2024 presidential debate, JFF commissioned a survey of more than 2,000 registered voters to ask Democrats, Republicans, and Independents whether issues on educational and economic opportunities mattered to them this campaign season.
Of the issues covered in our survey, respondents identified these as the five most important:
84%
OF VOTERS AGREE IT’S IMPORTANT TO:
Encourage employers to hire people based on their skills and not whether they hold a college degree. OF VOTERS AGREE IT’S IMPORTANT TO:
83%
Provide high school students with opportunities to develop job-related skills. THIS ISSUE RECEIVED THE MOST BIPARTISAN SUPPORT.
80%
OF VOTERS AGREE IT’S IMPORTANT TO:
Ensure that all people working a full-time job can earn a high enough wage to support their families. OF VOTERS AGREE IT’S IMPORTANT TO:
80%
Make information more readily available about job opportunities in a local area that pay a family-supporting wage. OF VOTERS AGREE IT’S IMPORTANT TO:
76%
Encourage people receiving public benefits to work by ensuring they can keep some benefits if their income increases.
Voters rated the importance of education, employment, and economic issues on a five-point scale from “very important” or “somewhat important” to “a little important” or “not at all important,” with a neutral option for “don’t know/no opinion.” Ratings of “very important” or “somewhat important” are grouped as “important” below. What we found: Regardless of which party controls the White House, Congress, or state houses, voters across party lines want elected officials to not only do better, but also reengineer our education and employment systems to eliminate the dead ends millions of workers and learners face in their pursuit of economic advancement.
Our polling also revealed that these issues were important to respondents across party lines: 87% of Democrats 83% of Republicans 77% of Independents
85% of Democrats 83% of Republicans 81% of Independents
86% of Democrats 75% of Republicans 77% of Independents
88% of Democrats 74% of Republicans 75% of Independents
81% of Democrats 74% of Republicans 72% of Independents