HOUSTON — Could you come up with quick cash in case of an emergency? It remains a struggle for many in our community.
That’s according to the latest Houston Area Survey released Monday.
The longest-running metropolitan study of its kind is conducted by Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
“This survey’s extremely important,” Director Dr. Ruth Lopez Turley said.
We got a sneak peek at some of the 30+ pages of data during a sit-down interview with Turley.
"We have done that best that we can to make sure that this survey is truly representative of our entire community," Turley said. "So we carefully selected residents of Harris County to mirror our county’s demographics.”
The hot topics included guns, the economy, immigration and abortion.
Gun laws
76% of respondents think gun rights should be protected. At the same time, 81% would support a law that would require registration of all handguns.
"And a staggering 93%, so this is just about everybody, 93% percent of respondents said that they favor universal backgrounds,” Turley said.
Turley believes it points to the complexities of the gun control debate.
"In fact, that really stood out to me,” she said.
Economy
Approximately a quarter of this year’s survey participants, out of about 3,200, believe the economy is the biggest issue facing the Houston region. Only one in four feel their financial situation had improved in the past three years.
Only about half of those surveyed thought their finances would change for the better in the years to come.
"Over 40% of respondents say they could not come up with 400 dollars in an emergency,” said Turley.
She said that’s an even bigger issue for Blacks and Hispanics compared to Whites and Asians.
"So there’s really significant inequalities that persist in our community.”
The vast majority of those surveyed, some 72%, support actions to close income gaps.
Immigration
On the immigration front, more than 80% of respondents support policies providing pathways toward legal citizenship for undocumented people.
The percentage of Houstonians who believe that immigrants contribute more to the economy than they take out of it has grown from around 40% percent nearly 30 years ago to more than 70% percent this year.
Abortion
Questions about abortion have been a part of the Houston Area Survey since the 1980s.
Between 50% to 60% of respondents continue to believe that women should have the right to an abortion if they feel it’s necessary. But there has been a shift in personal views about it.
"So now there are fewer respondents that believe that it’s morally wrong to have an abortion,” Turley said.
Other issues
Data dealing with development, traffic and the economy are also part of the survey seen for decades as a reliable reference for crafting public policy.
There will also be quarterly surveys, beginning this year, on various topics including the upcoming Houston mayoral election.
Starting next year, the survey will expand beyond Harris County to include Montgomery and Fort Bend Counties.