New Poll: Support for Head Start

Quality care is crucial for a child’s development. Early learning programs help build the skills kids need to succeed in school and in life. And when parents know their children are in safe, nurturing environments, they can focus on work — strengthening their family’s finances and helping to grow the economy.

Head Start and Early Head Start programs provide early learning and care to more than 750,000 young children, from birth to age five, who are living in poverty, in foster care, or experiencing homelessness.

A new snap poll conducted by the Republican polling firm UpONE Insights on behalf of First Five Years Fund shows there is strong support for Head Start across the political spectrum. The survey, conducted April 21–22, 2025 among more than 1,000 registered voters nationwide, also found that a strong majority of voters view federal funding for the program as a sound investment of taxpayer dollars.

The following are key takeaways from the poll.

Across the board, voters support federal funding for child care and early learning. 

Three out of four voters (72%) believe federal funding for child care and early learning programs for families with low incomes is a good investment of taxpayer money, including:

• 62% of Republicans
• 64% of Independents
• 83% of Democrats.

Support for Head Start is strong across the political spectrum. 

Four out of five (79%) voters say they support Head Start, including:

• 73% of Republicans
• 74% of Trump voters, 
• 76% of Independents 
• 86% of Democrats.  

Head Start has strong support among men and women as well as among parents and nonparents: 

• 79% Men
• 79% of Women
• 80% of Parents
• 80% of Nonparents

Head Start also has wide support across geographic, age, and ethnicity demographics, including: 

• 80% of Urban, 
• 80% of Suburban, and 
• 76% of Rural Americans

• 79% of White voters
• 83% of Black voters
• 78% of Hispanic voters

• 71% of voters ages 18-34
• 80% of voters age 35-44
• 83% of voters 45-54
• 75% of voters 55-64
• 85% of voters 65+