Surveys on education and economic mobility in the past month find reasons both for hope and concern as the nation emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.

On the education front, some parents express reluctance to return their child to school and many are hesitant to have their child vaccinated, factors complicating school policy in the fall. A third of principals, meanwhile, plan to accommodate requests for remote learning, even amid questions about its comparative effectiveness. Attitudes nationally are divided on another topic, the teaching of critical race theory.

Economic measures, for their part, show gains in consumer sentiment, including among less well-off Americans, and employment opportunities advancing among teenagers. Two new studies examine the role of education in economic well-being; another finds broad support for federal action on healthcare affordability.

These and other topics are covered in our latest monthly summary of newly released probability-based surveys on education and economic opportunity; see our report here. Sponsors and producers of such surveys are welcome to contact us to have their work included in future summaries.

This project is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.