Parents Divided as Confidence in Childhood Vaccines Wavers

Parents remain divided on childhood vaccines, with their nuanced and polarizing views complicated by a lack of confidence in federal health agencies, concerns about vaccine safety, and skepticism fueled by potential dissemination of misinformation.1-3

The most recent poll, part of a joint effort between the Washington Post and KFF, is the 37th installment in a series that began 30 years ago. Responses from 2716 parents were received between July 18 and August 4, 2025, and 37% of these parents (n = 1000) have children younger than 6 years. These results and their responses cover many areas now inextricably intertwined: vaccine type, vaccine schedules, political influence, partisanship divides, vaccine hesitancy, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, and federal health agencies.

Here are some of the questions parents were asked:

• Not counting COVID-19 or flu vaccines, have you ever skipped or delayed a recommended childhood vaccine for any of your children, or have you always kept all your children up to date with recommended childhood vaccines like measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) and polio?
• Is each of the following a major reason, minor reason, or not a reason why you delayed or skipped some vaccines for your child or children?
• Do you think each of the following statements is true, false, or do you not know enough to say? (about vaccines causing illness)
• How important do you think it is for children in your community to be vaccinated for each of the following? (eg, MMR, polio, flu, and COVID-19)

They were also asked to provide data on age, political party affiliation, homeschooling, race/ethnicity, and religion; their level of confidence in vaccine safety testing; and if they believe the MMR vaccine causes autism, a claim that has since been debunked and was based on a study now retracted.4

Overall, approximately 16% of parents, or 1 in 6, reject current vaccine recommendations, including delaying vaccines or skipping at least 1 vaccination altogether1—not including vaccines for COVID-19 or the flu. Nine percent each have skipped shots for MMR, diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (whooping cough), and hepatitis B; 8% did not have their child vaccinated against chickenpox; and 7% skipped polio vaccination. This news of increasing vaccine mistrust is not new, especially in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Washington Post reports, and it comes even as the new survey shows most Americans still support long-standing immunizations vs seasonal vaccines.1,3

Fifty-one percent of the parents who responded to the survey said they are not confident that the CDC and the FDA can ensure vaccines are safe and effective, with Republicans expressing overwhelming support that Kennedy’s findings on vaccines are reliable. | Image Credit: © Rawpixel.com-stock.adobe.com

“We still have strong support for vaccines among parents in this country,” said Liz Hamel, KFF vice president and director of public opinion and survey research. “What we don’t know yet is whether those slight cracks we’re starting to see in confidence among younger parents are going to translate into actual decisions around vaccines.”

With 95% of a community needing to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity, the survey also found the percent of kindergartners who received the MMR vaccine fell short, coming in at only 92.5%.

Several purported links were also seen regarding parent characteristics and likelihood of childhood vaccination, as well as overarching themes among all respondents1-3:

• Parents expressed concern over not knowing who or what to believe regarding false claims, especially for the link between the MMR shot and autism—with 9% still expressing this belief—as well as if changes to federal vaccine policy will have a noticeable impact.
• Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder are almost twice as likely to believe vaccines caused their child’s condition (16% vs 9%).
• Confidence levels are low across the board, with 14% vs 29% vs 22% of parents saying they have a lot of confidence, a little confidence, or no confidence in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, even as they believe public schools should still require measles and polio vaccines (81%).
• There was a greater likelihood of skipping or delaying any vaccines vs MMR or polio specifically, respectively, if parents fit the following criteria:
  • Aged 18 to 34 years vs aged 35 to 49 years: 19% vs 16% for any vaccine and 11% vs 9% for MMR or polio
  • Claimed Republican affiliation vs Democrat: 22% vs 8% and 12% vs 5%
  • Homeschooled a child vs did not homeschool: 46% vs 13% and 33% vs 7%
  • Were White vs Black, Hispanic, or Asian: 19% vs 17%, 12%, and 5% and 12% vs 11%, 4%, or 3%
  • Were White and very religious vs non-White and very religious: 36% vs 15% and 23% vs 7%

The most common major reasons given for delaying or skipping vaccines were concerns about adverse effects (67%), not trusting the safety data (53%), and feeling that not all recommendations are necessary (51%).2 Less common major reasons were lack of insurance coverage/high cost (5%), time to schedule or not recommended by the child’s doctor (9% each). The most common minor reasons were not wanting the child to get several shots simultaneously (28%), not trusting the safety data (26%), and believing not all recommendations are necessary or the child can be kept healthy via other means (24% each).

Also of note, 51% of the parents who responded to the survey expressed they are not confident that the CDC and the FDA can ensure vaccines are indeed safe and effective, with Republicans expressing overwhelming support that Kennedy’s findings on vaccines are reliable; 56% are not confident that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for kids; 41% believe their children are healthier if vaccines are spaced out more; and 26% say too many vaccines are recommended.

References

1. New KFF-Washington Post survey explores parents’ trust in, and confusion about, childhood vaccines as the Trump administration revamps federal policies. News release. KFF. September 15, 2025. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/new-kff-washington-post-survey-explores-parents-trust-in-and-confusion-about-childhood-vaccines-as-the-trump-administration-revamps-federal-policies/
2. KFF/The Washington Post survey of parents. KFF. September 15, 2025. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/kff-the-washington-post-survey-of-parents/
3. Weber L, Clement S, Guskin E, Sun LH. Why 1 in 6 U.S. parents are rejecting vaccine recommendations. The Washington Post. September 15, 2025. Accessed September 15, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/09/15/childhood-vaccines-parents-post-kff-poll/
4. The Editors of The Lancet. Retraction—ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. Lancet. 2010;375(9713):445. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60175-4