Donald Trump’s Approval Rating is Eroding Among Parents

[Thiệu Ngô]

President Donald Trump's approval rating among parents has notably dropped over the past month, according to data from the opinion research company Echelon Insights.

By Jasmine Laws

Although it is not just parents who are viewing the president less favorably this month compared to last, as this was also the case for the wider population.

Newsweek has contacted the White House via email for comment.

Why It Matters

The federal government shutdown—which was the longest in U.S. history—put significant strain on some of America's most vulnerable families, as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were delayed, which provide vital financial support for low-income families for cover grocery costs, as were Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) payments, which help those in low-income homes cover energy costs.

At the same time, federal workers were having to work without pay, with reports of some, particularly air traffic controllers, having to get second jobs to cover costs in the meantime.

The shutdown also shone a light on key issues facing Americans, not only SNAP benefits and the rising costs of living, but also the changes being made to Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans, which mean that those using the health insurance plans will see their monthly premiums go up by an average of 20 percent next year.

All in all, American families have recently been confronted with wide-ranging financial concerns that may have contributed to the drop in favorability for the president.

What To Know

Echelon Insight's latest poll, which was conducted between November 13 and 17 and surveyed 1,051 voters, showed that parents of children aged younger than 18 now view Trump less favorably than they did in October.

In the November poll, 43 percent of parents reported having a "very unfavorable" view of Trump, which was up by 7 percent compared to Echelon Insight's October poll, which was conducted between October 16 and 20 and surveyed 1,010 voters, when the same number was 36 percent.

There was also a decline in the number of parents who reported having a "very or somewhat favorable" view of Trump—a drop of 3 percent over the course of the month.

This trend was identifiable among other demographics as well, and broadly, there was a drop of 5 percent of voters who said they viewed the president favorably.

Most of the time between the two conducted surveys fell during the federal government shutdown, which likely influenced Trump's drop in favorability among parents.

"The delay in SNAP benefits during the shutdown was unprecedented and affected millions of Americans, particularly children," Taryn Morrissey, a professor and chair of the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University, told Newsweek.

She said that in the fiscal year 2023, 39 percent of SNAP recipients were children under the age of 18, while 11 percent were children under the age of 5.

"Most low-income families, especially households with children, lack the assets or wealth necessary to buffer the negative effects of a substantial, even temporary, dip in resources," she said.

She added the delay in SNAP benefits meant "families were without the resources that they rely on to literally put food on the table," meaning it likely led to "increases in food insecurity among children and families."

"A wealth of research shows the harms of food insecurity for children’s health and other outcomes; other research shows the important role that SNAP plays in reducing food insecurity and improving children’s short- and long-term outcomes, including health care access and health," she said.



What People Are Saying

Taryn Morrissey, a professor and chair of the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University, told Newsweek: "I think that families' high and rising cost of living and the lack of policy action in making basic necessities — from food, to housing, to diapers, to child care — affordable is leading to understandable frustration with the Trump administration."

She added: "We have policies that can make families’ lives more affordable and help parents manage their family and work responsibilities while improving children’s health and other outcomes — paid family and medical leave, child care subsidies, universal preschool, public health insurance, and SNAP are examples — but this administration has chosen to cut some of these effective programs to cut taxes. Recent policies like those in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 have redistributed resources from the poor to the wealthy, and from the younger generations to older generations."

Shana Kushner Gadarian, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek: "The Trump administration continues to do things that are unpopular, and the things that they ran on in the campaign, like lowering prices and making the economy stronger, they are directly countering those promises with other policies. So the tariffs have made inflation worse, and prices worse, and the government shutdown only made those issues more clear. Also the fact that during the shutdown, people lost access to SNAP when they didn't have to, as there was an actual contingency plan that would have kept SNAP funding going and the administration fought that, now has a big impact on young kids."

She added: "The six week long shutdown had to do with all of these issues about healthcare, SNAP funding, the general cost of living, things that really affect American families and it was very clear that the administration was not particularly responsive to the issues that they even ran on in 2024."