Fifty-nine percent of Americans say they favor the United States providing economic assistance to other countries, the highest level of support since 1974, when opinions on the subject were first tracked. Support has grown 16 percentage points since hitting a low point in 1993. Not surprisingly, many respondents favor economic assistance because they believe it will pay dividends in the long run: 60 percent say that money spent helping people overseas eventually helps the United States economically.

Eight in ten Americans, including over 70 percent of all demographic and political subgroups, favor U.S. aid to fund voluntary family planning programs abroad. Even stronger support exists for making government-provided family planning services available at home to poor American women (86 percent) and for requiring health insurers to cover the cost of contraception (87 percent). Note: family planning was defined to exclude abortion.

In spite of its strong support for family planning programs overseas, 50 percent of the public approves the 1996 congressional vote to reduce the U.S. contribution to international family planning, while 45 percent disapproves. "Either respondents are unaware of historic or current funding levels, or Americans support such programs in principle but are less supportive when it comes to funding them," the report observes.

Limited Knowledge, Strong Opinions

Only 14 percent of Americans have a correct notion of world population size (currently about six billion). Another 14 percent think it is five times that amount and nearly 40 percent say they don't know. Almost half say the world population will double in fewer than 20 years. Current demographic trends suggest that the doubling time will be around 50 years.

When asked about specific goals for U.S. international assistance, the public's top priorities include improving children's health and survival rates, protecting the global environment, relieving human suffering and helping women in poor countries avoid unintended pregnancies. Helping countries slow population growth ranks lower.

Still, six in ten say the globe is overpopulated. And while Americans may not view it as the primary international challenge, a majority believes that population growth contributes to environmental problems, civil strife, and other challenges. Seventy-one percent agree with the statement that "too much population growth in developing countries is holding back their economic development." In 1994, 55 percent of voters agreed with this statement.

Interestingly, older Americans (27 percent) and Hispanics (33 percent) are more likely to rank rapid population growth as a very serious problem than is the general population (20 percent). Hispanics are also more likely than other racial or ethnic groups to strongly support funding for family planning programs.

A vast majority of Americans -- 92 percent -- agrees that couples should have the right to decide the number, spacing, and timing of their children and should have access to the information and means to do so.

Abortion -- At Home or Abroad -- Remains Divisive

The survey showed that opinion about abortion continues to split down the middle, much as it has for the past 25 years. About half of the respondents oppose it either completely or except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life. The other half support a legal right to abortion. Support stems in part from the belief that legal abortion can save women's lives. Opposition flows in part from belief that too many women use abortion as a routine means of birth control and that its availability encourages extramarital sex. Attitudes toward abortion overseas parallel these domestic views.

Despite the fact that family planning and abortion have become enmeshed with each other in the policy debate, the public's views on one do not necessarily correlate with their views on the other. Many who are anti-abortion support federal funding for family planning, both domestically and abroad.

How Americans View World Population Issues: A Survey of Public Opinion was authored by David M. Adamson, Nancy Belden, Julie DaVanzo and Sally Patterson and is based on a telephone survey of 1,500 U.S. residents aged 16 or older conducted in August­September 1998. The margin of error is 2.5 percentage points.

The study is a product of the Population Matters project within RAND's Labor and Population Program. The survey was funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The Packard Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation supported the analysis and the preparation of the report. RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.

If you'd like hard copies of this study, call RAND's Public Information Office, 310-451-6913.

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