LANSING, Mich. — In a recent poll, Michigan voters said policymakers are not doing enough to support families and worry that rising costs for essentials are hitting working families the hardest.
In an EPIC-MRA poll supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) and Steelcase Foundation, 58% of respondents said that Michigan is not doing enough to support families and should do more. Further, 67% agreed that rising costs for essentials, including groceries, goods affected by tariffs, health insurance and child care, are hitting Michigan working families hardest, and will continue to worsen. The poll sampled 600 active or likely voters and was conducted in November 2025.
“In order for families to best support their children, they need access to high quality early care and education,” said Yazeed Moore, director of Michigan programs at the WKKF. “That care for their children is critical economic infrastructure that provides families the stability they need to stay employed, and provides our state access to the talent we need for a more resilient economy.”
Across Michigan, families continue to face rising costs for housing, child care, health care, and other essentials that outpace wages. Additionally, caregivers for young children in Michigan remain underpaid and undervalued, and many working parents are navigating systems that were not designed with the realities facing families today. At this time of economic uncertainty, ensuring stability for families is not a peripheral issue.
“Michigan has made progress in recent years on real kitchen table issues that impact families every day, including investments in public education, tax relief for working families, and expanded support for child care,” said Dr. Daniel Williams, president of the Steelcase Foundation. “This polling is a call to action for our policymakers and elected leaders to work towards advancing a coordinated, family-centered agenda: one that makes Michigan more affordable, strengthens the care economy, ensures work truly pays in accordance with today’s economic realities, aligns budget priorities with shared prosperity and protects public schools as the backbone of opportunity.”
Members of Michigan’s philanthropic, public, private and educational sectors are increasing efforts to align policy solutions around the belief that working families deserve dignity, stability and real opportunity. This polling comes on the heels of recent convenings in Michigan in 2025 and 2024 to discuss better support structures for families, as well as national work done by the think tank Capita about a national family policy agenda. To learn more about the foundations’ work supporting families, visit www.steelcasefoundation.org and www.wkkf.org.
