In strong supermajorities, Californians agree that all students deserve quality public education regardless of immigration status, and that government should regulate housing markets to improve access to affordable housing
BERKELEY, CA - A large majority of Californians have a growing discomfort with corporate influence on statewide politics, and also believe the government should be responsible for ensuring access to affordable homes, funding for K-12 education, and healthcare for the sick. That’s according to results from a new survey by the Othering and Belonging Institute (OBI) at UC Berkeley.
Commissioned by OBI, and in partnership with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the 2024 California Survey on Othering and Belonging was conducted this year from July 10 to August 4, and included a random sample of 2,258 California residents. Respondents shared their views, in English and Spanish, on a range of topics including immigration, political representation, the climate crisis, and the role of government in addressing inequality.
The survey found that a supermajority of Californians, 79%, believe the government should be responsible for guaranteeing access to healthcare. This sentiment enjoyed majority support across party lines, with 53% of Republicans and 92% of Democrats sharing this view. Californians also consider K-12 education an essential public service, with 74% saying that it is more important for the government to fully fund high-quality public education than it is to offer students money that they could take to private schools.
While anti-immigrant sentiment from political candidates nationwide has been prevalent during this year’s election season, the survey found that 80% of Californians also agree that access to quality public education should be guaranteed to all, regardless of immigration status; 65% said they “strongly” agree on this.
The survey also found that, for Californians, there is growing disapproval of corporate power. More than two thirds, 69%, of Californians say that big corporations have too much influence in politics. This share has grown by 8 percentage points since the first California Survey on Othering and Belonging in 2017. While respondents from all racial and ethnic groups say corporations have too much influence in politics, the largest increases from 2017 to 2024 came from Latinx and Black Californians, which saw more than 10 percentage-point increases.
“It isn’t a surprise that more Californians are speaking out against corporate power. We see it at all levels – from corporations’ record profits while working people struggle to pay the bills, to their corrupting influence on local government. My organization works everyday to keep our communities from getting pushed further away from the decisions that affect their lives,” said Marisol Ramirez, Interim Executive Director at Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD), a community-labor organization that collaborates with OBI.
Finally, the survey featured a question on California’s hot-button issue of housing. On it, 70% of Californians agree that “it is the responsibility of government to regulate housing markets to ensure that everyone has access to an affordable home.” There were notable differences in the prevalence of this view when broken down by demographics, however. While 50% of Californians ages 65 and older support government regulation of housing to foster affordability, nearly 90% of residents aged 18 to 29 consider this to be the government's responsibility. Similarly, while only a slight 51% majority of white respondents see this as within the role of government, 81% of Californians who are Black, Latinx, Asian American, or Native/Indigenous do.
“It is incredible to see that majorities of every age and racial group agree that the government must do more to ensure Californians have access to affordable housing,” emphasized Sabrina Smith, Chief Executive Officer of California Calls, a coalition of community-based organizations that work to expand civic engagement and political participation in the state. “Californians are tired of corporations like the ones who own so much of the housing stock in California being able to profit more and more at our expense. They are telling their electeds: ‘It is your duty to take action, to use the powers you have to give us a shot at secure homes for our families.’”
The 2024 California Survey on Othering and Belonging margin of error is +/- 3.1% and it was conducted by public opinion firm FM3 Research. More information on the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley can be found here.
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For media inquiries, contact Ivan Natividad at ivan.natividad@berkeley.edu, 510-325-3349.
