It's safe to say that 2025 has been a challenging year for Kansas, children and families. They've faced ongoing economic uncertainty, the passage of a gigantic piece of legislation by the US, House and Senate that promises more of the same and a future simply packed with anxieties. Thankfully, there's new research just out that suggests how residents of the Sunflower State and the whole United States feel about the current situation and what they think should be done about it. My name's clay wirestone, and I'm the opinion editor for Kansas reflector. I'm joined today by Mike Perry from Perry undom and David Jordan from the United Methodist health ministry fund. Hello to you
both. Hey, Clay. Hey, clay.
So we're looking here at some research that has been done by Perry undom With support from UMF, and broadly looking at kind of family and economic issues and stresses where we are right now in the United States. So Mike, can we just talk, you know, from a high level view, kind of, what did you guys do to get this information. How did you how did you pull all this stuff together?
Sure, clay and thank you for having me. So this study is like a unique kind of study, one of a kind kind of study, because it's both national, and then it digs deep into four states, and Kansas is one of the states, and the health fund is our partner in Kansas. So we arrived at both national trends and specific trends that are happening in Kansas. And then we also did focus groups. So I got to talk to real Kansans across the state in focus groups and ask about their lives. This study focused on families with young children and asked them about their lives. I think some of the big takeaways are pretty well known, which are that families are struggling with high cost of living, housing costs, food costs, they come up a lot. And there is this idea that these families are under lots of stress right now, and there is a desire to help them out. So that is sort of the big takeaway from the research,
sure. And just looking at the data here, it's the four states we're talking about is, are Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and New Hampshire. That Correct? That's right. Okay. And so, you know, I guess both David and Mike just looking, you know, you guys pull out, there's a lot of different information and data that's been pulled out of both these focus groups and the survey. But I think the thing that really strikes me is, just at a base level, how concerned people are about the economy and the cost of living, just, I mean, just as a general issue like the numbers really seem overwhelming.
They are, they are, and I can't get more than five minutes into a focus group without getting into those issues. And then we just stay there. People talk about all the hardships they're facing right now, all the trade offs are having to make because of the high cost of living, because everyday costs are so high, food continues to come up as the big issue. Cost of eggs continues to come up, but clay I think the thing that is striking to me is these are not new issues. I've been hearing them the last three years, right? And I'm getting this kind of exhaustion in Kansas and nationally with having to deal with these everyday costs being so hard to afford right now. So I think that is kind of the newer thing. Not only are the numbers high, yes, I'm really worried about thing, these, these costs, but I think it's the underlying fatigue, and, you know, with having to deal with this. So I think that is, that is sort of what is striking me. David, I don't know if you have a different takeaway.
No, I think, you know, building off of what Mike said, I think we really want to to live in a state and in a country where can, where Kansas families and all families thrive. But time and again, we keep hearing how people are working multiple jobs and can't put food on the table or pay for their kid to go to child care or afford their health care, and these stressors are making it tougher for them to be healthy and get good jobs. And I think, as Mike said, we've heard this talking to folks at grocery stores or having the privilege to watch focus groups or seeing in polling data, but like policymakers, don't seem to be listening listening to it. In Kansas or in DC, and I think we're, we've seen some, we're seeing some new data in this research. So, you know, I think it's really important to have these conversations, and folks to continue to to try to to work with families, to lift up the concerns that they're feeling at the dinner table.
Well, I mean, as I, as I said, and not to harp on this, but you look at the percentage of folks in Kansas who are concerned by the cost of living, 89% food and groceries, 85% cost of health care and insurance, 90% you know, 5.5 percentage points ahead of the national average. You know, 81% of housing like I mean, those are numbers that you know, I think it's, you know, just see those kinds of numbers in polling. Like, it's not like there's some group of people who are saying, oh, things are great. Like everyone is concerned.
That's right. I mean, it's not normal to get such high numbers in polling. To tell you the truth. You know, it used to be 78 79% were high numbers in polling. But on these, these issues, as David said, these kitchen table issues, there's just lots of agreement, like partisanship, the divides between the wealthy and those without with lower incomes. It's sorry, it starts to sort of disappear with these issues, and people just have lots of clarity, these are problems. We need to solve these problems,
and also just to be, oh, sorry, David, go
ahead. Oh. I mean, I think there's a lot of common ground and a shared interest in helping children and families thrive, and that Kansas families are experiencing this firsthand. So it's tough to get platitudes from policy makers when they know there's a high cost of living and that they know that policy can help be one part of improving their day to day lives.
And also, I just wanted to just back up and make the point that this is is pretty fresh data, like the focus groups and the survey, they come from June and July. So you know this, this is about as current as you you can really get in something like this for for a big project. So let's go into, then some of these specific questions here, where we get a little more into the policy piece. So, so, you know, a couple of these results here, and I think we, you know, the first of this here is just how families with young children are doing. And so the question is, kind of, for families that have kids who are age five or below, you know, how much do you think they're struggling with everyday costs right now? And just kind of, how, how much do you think the you know, is the government doing enough or too little to help? And basically 69% of Kansas voters think that the government isn't doing enough. So talk a little bit about that. How did how I mean, how you know, what is, what does that mean when they're saying they don't think the government is is doing enough?
Great question. Clay, so let me clarify something you mentioned it. We were five minutes into the survey, 10 minutes into the survey, and then we asked people in the survey to think about families with children five or younger. We did that in the focus groups too, so we really zeroed in on these kind of young families for all the rest of the questions and all the policy questions. So I just wanted you to be clear on the framework, because any pollster can tell you this, when you focus on children, when you focus on young families, sort of empathy support sort of just tends to be higher. We saw that in this research as well. So yes, you are right. There is agreement across party ID across different parts of the states of Kansas agreement that families with young children are struggling right now, and there is a feeling that government is not doing enough and needs to be doing more now. I want to sort of be clear government is not the first place that Kansans go. It's not that they're like, I want government to do this, this, this. There is some conflict about government in people's lives. Is government too involved? Et cetera, these concerns come up. But the bottom line is, these problems are so big, they've been going on so long, they are so beyond the capabilities of families or communities to solve them. They sort of end up at this place that government needs to be doing more. So I just want to also clarify that they're not starting from, okay, we need more government. It is. They're backing into it because they don't see any other way to make progress on these kind of problems facing families. So yes, they want government to do more. And they feel, and this is K. Kansas specific, they feel like it is really hard to get help in Kansas, that the income thresholds are just too low for programs, that they're not realistic when the cost of living is so high, when food is so expensive, and people are getting turned away in Kansas from programs, even though they don't think they're doing very well financially, and even when they're falling behind in bills, they think it's too hard to qualify for things in Kansas. So we heard that pretty loud and clear about government should be doing more and they should be making it easier for people to get help when they struggle.
You know, I think the one thing that really struck me from this data and these conversations was it wasn't that government should just do more. It was that the decisions that some policy makers are making is taking choices away from families. It's making them harder to making it harder for them. Can we access some of the assistance they need, or to be able to be healthy, to get a job? So it's not that government isn't just doing enough, which I think folks recognize, but it's that they're proactively making life harder for families and taking decisions away from families, which makes it harder to put food on the table. And in a real sense,
well, there's this aspect right where it's almost like the it feels, from looking at some of these responses, that people actually feel like the government should almost get out of the way of putting barriers up for people to have access to these programs.
That's right. I mean, think you put your finger on it, and David mentioned it too, they are seeing government as sort of obstructionist right now, as putting barriers in their way, adding layers and layers on, sort of not not being there for them when they need help, and actually preventing them from getting help.
Yeah, and I think, you know, as you see that in policies, the state's failure to expand Medicaid, you have a single mother with two kids. She works half time. It's she makes too much money to qualify for health insurance, which could help her, you know, get get better employment and be healthy and live a successful life. You see how tough it is for families to access food, and the red tape that they have to navigate is so burdensome. It's not that these groups wanted folks to be on government assistance. They thought, if you deserve it, we should make it easy for you, and it should be a program that supports you, getting new jobs and being helpful. So it's taking, you know, too often we see government in Kansas adding red tape and making it tougher for families well.
And I can just speak from my my own experience in the my own few years in the nonprofit field, and also just watching as a journalist, you know what, what the Kansas government has historically done in terms of, you know, restricting access, limiting access to many of these programs. You know, it's not a new problem, but I think as you have these, I mean, at least my take on it is, as you have this pressure of rising prices and uncertain economic kind of winds going on, then it makes those barriers feel much worse or much more prominent.
I agree clay, and I know we're going to get to in a minute, it's also because they've sort of watched what's happening on the national and national level, and they are sort of hearing that there's going to be even more cutbacks to programs and less access. So that's where the state particularly steps in, because they are sort of seeing more hardship ahead and on the horizon, and already in Kansas, it is hard to access programs, so they're sort of doubly worried in the moment, like we were doing this poll, as they were making decisions on that big bill in Washington. And that's the timing of our poll, so it was very top of mind for them that nationally, there might be a rolling back of helping families, and you know, how is that going to play out in Kansas?
So, but then, you know, kind of going through this, and looking at this, you can also see that kind of this national conversation we've had, and perhaps conversation is being too generous to it, but the national dialog we've had about, quote, unquote, waste, fraud and abuse, you know, just generally, you know, been, you know, where are benefits going? Are they going to people who, quote, unquote, deserve them, etc. There is a sizable number of Kansas voters who worry about waste and abuse in programs.
That's true. I mean, that's just the reality of it, and it's a worry. And I have to tell you, as someone who works on these programs like I want there to be less waste and abuse in these programs, too. It's always something we can keep working on and improving. And in fact, these programs. Have been doing that all along, and they should continue doing that. So it has been a worry, but yes, it has been amped up because of the dialog coming out of Washington about waste and abuse in the program, and particularly those who consume more conservative kind of media, they got more of that kind of message and less of the messaging about how these cuts to Medicaid, for example, could affect people, and how cuts to snap could affect people. The thing they heard was getting rid of fraud and abuse and programs, right? So it certainly penetrated. It was very top of mind in our focus groups in Kansas. It came up pretty early. But I think the thing, the thing is, in Kansas, you can be somebody who wants to reduce fraud and abuse and program and at the very same time want to expand access to programs. These don't cancel each other out, right? And I think some policymakers, some elected officials, think they do think it's one or the other, and it's not. It's both. In Kansas, we can keep working to reduce fraud and abuse and programs. Yes, we're all behind that idea, right? But what I think policymakers are not hearing is that it is too hard to get access to programs right now, and we need to expand access to these programs.
And I think a perfect example of that in Kansas is we're creating, you know, paperwork requirements in order to qualify for SNAP I think our snap application is 32 pages long. So you think about what it takes for a family an hourly worker to fill that out, to then verify information and go back and work through that process with government agency that's not properly staffed. That's where people fall through the crack. So I think we all want to advocate to eliminate red tape and unnecessary paperwork requirements and make the programs work better, and at the same time, make sure that we're making sure the folks, the only folks enrolled in the program, are the folks that are eligible. And I think we can do both at the same time, but that requires folks to maybe step out of there, to lean into serving families and also making programs work more efficiently. Because I think the other thing that was interesting to see how Kansas voters responded is, yes, they want to make sure that there's not fraud, waste and abuse in programs, which I think we share that goal, but I think they also thought that maybe some of it is a bit overstated or miscast as that conversation plays out. And I think that's really important for us to keep in mind as we talk about these things
well, and that's and David, that's exactly what I was going to follow up and say, which is, you have 72% of voters saying in this polling that they're concerned, but then you also have 75% saying that they think that Some politicians might be exaggerating this kind of problem to give, you know, to reduce benefits and programs. So, you know, people have people can believe more than one, one thing at a time, not everything is mutually exclusive,
that's right. And we heard that in the focus groups, like some people were like, did Elon Musk even find that much wasted abuse, like it was coming up, like, in those kind of ways, like, I think they sort of knew something inside them told them that this has been exaggerated. This is you being used to manipulate me. It's it's a reason to cut back program. So I think that is a newer thing, and I think it's because of what the dialog looked like, the debate looked like this spring and summer, that people started getting suspicious of all of this talk about fraud and abuse. And so it came up in the focus groups that I think that it's exaggerated. I think they're using it to convince me to support cuts to these programs, and they sort of saw through that
interesting, and then, fine, you know, I think then toward towards the end, here we, we also, you guys also talk to folks about, you know, what, what is actually in the one big beautiful bill, which, of course, is now the, you know, the One big, beautiful law. And talking about kind of overwhelming opposition to cuts to Medicaid and snap that are part of it, and then just going down again, looking at how concerned people would be at various effects of the bill, right? Things like if hospitals and health care providers have to close if children lose access to health care, food insecurity and all of that. And really, again, just overwhelming, you know, overwhelming concern about what the effects of of the new law could be.
That's right. And. And I'm glad you're raising that, and I think that's where lots of my polling is probably going to go in the next couple of months, as people learn more about this bill, I think there's like, well, this law, as you pointed out, is now law. So Clay a couple things that I would sort of raise. One is even before we got into their feelings about this bill slash law, we asked what they'd heard about it, and there was a real divide there. If you were a Republican, you were much less likely to have heard about cuts to Medicaid and cuts to snap. What you have heard through your media sources is cutting out abuse and fraud from programs. That's the thing you heard. So there's this remarkable divide Democrats independents across the country. They knew much more about the details of the bill in terms of cutting back programs. Republicans, much less. So I'm going to just point that out, because there's a need to still educate people in Kansas who might not have heard about what is coming down the road because of this bill. They wouldn't have heard about cuts to Medicaid. They wouldn't have heard cuts to snap, right? So so we saw that in the polling, and then when we asked them, we got a strong majority of voters in Kansas and nationally leaning against this bill, leaning against the cuts. Now this poll, our poll isn't done in isolation. We've been looking at other national polling. It's very much in line with what national polling is finding, that the majority of the public is very wary of this bill, very nervous about this bill. The Trump administration hasn't quite sold it to the majority of public. Here's the interesting thing, when you look at who's most conflicted, it's Republicans are most conflicted about the bill. There's clarity with Democrats, the vast majority strongly oppose the bill, and also the vast majority of independents oppose the bill. They're really clear on it. Who's sort of in the middle, like on the fence, like somewhat opposed, somewhat in favor is Republicans. And so I think that just just tells us where we are as a country right now, and also in Kansas, who is conflicted about the bill and who is not. And then the last thing that you pointed out is, and I think this is a future conversation, how could this bill affect what happens in Kansas? Yes, there's lots of worry. Hospitals closing. This has been a big issue in Kansas, rural hospitals closing. That was a top concern, children losing access to health care, food insecurity on the rise. And one important finding is parents being so overburdened by paperwork, which are these new work requirements that are part of this law being so overburdened that they lose access to these programs, and their children do too. So that is a big concern also.
Yeah, I think the sentiment is, folks are looking for more help, and this bill is doing the opposite, which is, you know, really going to be ripping away some services that they might be able to get to help them survive and thrive. So I think, you know, we heard time and again that there's families that are barely making it, and they may be getting help in the smallest of ways, but it's making a huge difference. And maybe, you know, getting some food assistance, or they're able to have their child enrolled in Medicaid, but some of these new changes are have the potential of ripping away that help, and there's a lot of fear and worry about that. And I think that cuts across partisan lines, and I think that's where hopefully people will start to listen that this really is a big issue for Kansans, affordability, cost of living, and policies that take away their choices and make it tougher for them to raise a family,
really can be an issue that politicians should start paying attention to.
So, you know, David, I think, kind of, as we, you know, kind of wrap up here today, though, I do want to kind of put the question to you, and then maybe Mike as we move forward. But you know, what really struck me in just listening to you guys, is the extent to which, you know, this is still kind of an there's still kind of an information vacuum going on, right? There's still kind of this question where, how is this being defined? What do people know about it? How do they know about it? What do they believe? So, David, as you look forward and you know, your work with the health fund and whatnot, you know, how do you see, kind of the question about education with this, with talking to people about this, like, you know, what are kind of the next steps with that? How do you see that playing out?
And I think part of the big driving force as to why we did this work is to understand, one, how Kansans are feeling about these issues, how they're impacting their day to day lives in their budget, but then really having some research that we can share, we. With providers, with partners in the advocacy or nonprofit space, and then with policymakers about really where Kansans are. Earlier this week, the you know, the reflector had a great story highlighting the Speaker of the House intends to cut Medicaid in the upcoming session. Well, this survey showed that just 7% of Kansans want to see Medicaid cut because they understand it hurts their it could hurt their family or their their their their wallet, or it could hurt hospitals. So I think we need to help policymakers understand that what they're talking about at a policy level can really have disastrous effects for families, and while they may think it's popular with their base, their base is actually conflicted, and there's overwhelming opposition to doing things that make life, make things harder in the lives of Everyday Kansans.
Mike, any any thoughts? Sure?
You know, just someone who does a lot of work on these issues, and I do lots of focus groups, so I'm talking to like, real people, and we're a nonpartisan firm, right? So I'm not being hired by political groups to do research. I'm just listening to a broad swath of Americans talk about issues, and none of what we found surprises me at all. And so what I'm struck by is politicians in nationally and in Kansas who don't seem to be hearing what I'm hearing every single night. And it just, it just amazes me. Nobody, nobody wants cuts to these programs. It did never came up from the public Donald Trump's. He has two pollsters, and he had memos weeks before this bill was finalized, his own pollsters were saying the public does not want these cuts, right? So I think they, they, maybe they know it, and they're going ahead and pursuing these cuts anyway, which I think should sort of raise alarm with you know, every everyday people that they're being ignored, but I don't know. I just find none of these findings surprising. There's never been energy to cut back these programs. The economy is rough right now. Cost of everything is rough. Who would support cutting back access to basic needs? Kind of program? It just doesn't pass the kind of test here that that's believable at all. So so I don't know. I just really hope that that politicians in Kansas nationally, start to listen to people and and I think there's going to be a backlash if they keep going down this road. There's going to be a backlash for politicians if they continue to ignore the voice of people.
Okay, well, David and Mike, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me about your about the new research. Thank you clay. Yeah.
