Ballots have been rolling in ahead of
Election Day, but a big question remains: How many people will ultimately vote?
According to data from the
latest California Health Interview Survey, or CHIS, an estimated 2.8 million eligible
Californians never vote in national, state or local elections, and 7.7 million
only vote sometimes — which could potentially leave more than 10 million
ballots uncast.
The findings on voter participation
and other demographic and health-related topics are part of the UCLA Center for Health Policy
Research’s annual CHIS data release, which takes place online today at noon PT.
The 2019 edition of the survey, which
includes responses from 22,160 adults, 847 teens and 3,009 children (with
answers obtained through their parents), covers a range of topics about
Californians and health, including medical conditions, access to health care,
mental health, health status and health behaviors.
New questions in the adult portion of the survey address opioid use, internet and social media use, whether residents avoid public assistance programs, and how physical and environmental factors affect health. All of these
topics can be compared across race and ethnicity, gender, age, income level and
other sociodemographic categories.
The researchers stress that the data from
the new CHIS are especially crucial at this time, with the nation confronting
the COVID-19 pandemic and the systemic racial equity issues that have been
brought to light as a result of the crisis.
“With the unprecedented times we are
facing — as we struggle not only with the pandemic but with racism as a public
health crisis — we feel that the actionable data CHIS provides is critical to
reaching policymakers so that they may enact laws that support Californians
health and well-being,” said Ninez Ponce, the survey’s principal investigator
and the center’s director. “We also believe this is important data for
journalists and the public, who are reporting on and educating themselves about
various health issues impacting youth and adults across the state.”
California voters and elections
Center researchers have published a
related fact sheet on Californians and voting showing that voting habits vary
both by the type of election — whether national or local — and by race and
ethnicity. They found that Asians and Latinos were the least likely to vote in
local elections, with 62% of Asians and 61% of Latinos saying that they “never”
or “sometimes” voted in these contests.
However, there were wide variations
within these ethnic groups: Infrequent voting in local elections was highest
among those who identified as “other
Central American” (76%) and Chinese (70%), while it was lowest among Filipinos
(53%) and South Americans (51%).
The data also show that for those who
reported never or only sometimes voting in presidential elections, the most-cited
reason (28%) was a dislike of politics or political candidates. Those who never
or sometimes vote in local elections cited not being informed (21%) and
forgetting to vote or not thinking about it (20%) as their top reasons.
“While the most recent CHIS data showed
that Asians and Latinos were less likely than other groups to vote, the extent
of variation within these ethnic groups was considerable and indicates that disaggregating
racial or ethnic groups reveals important differences when it comes to voting”
said Susan Babey, the fact sheet’s lead author and
senior research scientist at the center.
Among the 2019 survey results:
Role of environmental factors in
health. More than half of adults (53.4% of those age 18–44 and 54.3% of those 45
and older) think that genetics and medical care, on one hand, and individual
choices or environmental factors, on the other, play an equal role in a
person’s health. However, adults younger than 45 are more likely than those 45 and
older to believe that personal choices and environmental factors play a more
significant role — 34.4% vs. 29.4%.
Social media and mental health. One in 10 adults (11.5%) and 1
in 5 teens (19.4%) say they use computers or mobile devices “almost constantly”
to access social media. These adults who are heavy social media users are three
times more likely than their peers who access social media “less than a few
times a day” to have experienced serious psychological distress within the past
year — 27.9% vs. 8.6%.
Sexual violence. Among bisexual adults, 1 in 4 (25%)
reported experiencing sex without consent as an adult, the highest rate for any
group. For women overall, 12.6% had experienced nonconsensual sex as adults. Among
all individuals who had experienced nonconsensual sex, 38.2% had seriously
thought about committing suicide and 33.5% had experienced serious
psychological distress within the past year.
Loneliness and mental health among
older adults. Women age 65 and older are more likely to often feel lonely than
men in their age group — 4.4% vs. 1.6%. Among both men and women 65 and older
who are separated, divorced or widowed, 6.5% reported being lonely often. Further,
42.2% of those who reported being lonely often also experienced severe
psychological distress within the past year, compared with 1.2% of their peers
who reported hardly ever feeling lonely.
Veterans and mental health. Among adults age 25–64 who have served
on active duty in the U.S. military, more than 1 in 5 (22.5%) have seriously
thought about committing suicide, compared with 13.8% of those who have not
served. For women in that age range who have served on active duty, the
percentage is higher, at 36.4%, compared with 13.8% of women who haven’t served.
Caregiving. Nearly 1 in 4 (24.2%) respondents
reported having provided caregiving to a family member or friend within the
past 12 months, most often to a mother or mother-in-law (29%). Among those
providing care, 22.8% reported some financial stress or extreme financial
stress associated with caregiving.
“Our recent findings show that mental
health, environmental and social factors are having striking impacts across
various demographic groups in the state, and lawmakers, community organizations
and other supporting agencies may consider how to devote resources and funding
to support the health of already underresourced or underserved populations,”
said Todd Hughes, CHIS director.
The new survey results are available
to the public for free through the center’s AskCHIS website. In addition, public-use files with the
new data are downloadable from the website, and researchers may
access confidential data files from the study by applying to the
center’s Data Access Center.
The California Health Interview
Survey, the nation’s largest state health survey, covers numerous categories,
including general health status, health conditions, neighborhood and housing,
health insurance, teen bullying, childcare, employment, income and other
measures, such as race, marital status, sexual orientation and citizenship.