NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Poll

Poverty in America

As shown, some questions were asked only of subsets of respondents (e.g., people who said they knew about the new welfare law). The tables identify whether the results reflect percentages of the overall population or percentages of a subset. In some cases results for particular income-level subgroups are not shown because there were too few respondents on which to report. Some demographic questions are not shown, but all questions are presented in the order in which they were asked. An asterisk (*) indicates a response of less than 1%.

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I. General Background | II. Why Are People Poor? | III. Perceptions of Poor People | IV. The Government's Role | V. Perceptions of Welfare and Welfare Recipients | VI. Perceptions of the New Welfare Law | VII. Personal Experience with Economic Problems | VIII. Demographics

19. In terms of the amount of money we as a country are spending on assistance to poor people, do you think we are spending too much, too little, or about the right amount?
(Results for total respondents)

20. If the government were willing to spend whatever it thought was necessary to eliminate poverty in the United States, do you think that this is something that could be accomplished, or not?
(Results for total respondents)

21. Do you think government programs that try to improve the condition of poor people in this country are generally making things better, are making things worse, or aren't having much impact one way or another?
(Results for total respondents)

22. Earlier in this interview you said it's (easier/harder) than it was ten years ago for poor people to get out of poverty by working hard. How much (credit/blame) do you give the federal government for making it (easier/harder)--a lot, some, not much, or none at all?
(Results for respondents who think it is easier or harder than it was ten years ago for poor people to get out of poverty)

Easier: [Total =819, <100% =101, 100-200%= 215, 200%+ =503]

24. Here is a list of things the government could do that some people say would reduce poverty in America. Do you support or oppose the government doing each?
(Results for one-half of total respondents)
[Total = 977, <100% = 146, 100-200%= 308, 200%+ = 523]

Requiring public schools to teach about moral values and the work ethic

25. Would you be willing to pay more in taxes to pay for more of such government spending to help the poor?
(Results for total who support programs that can directly help the poor/reduce poverty in America and could cost money)
[Total =1926, <100% =291, 100-200%=607, 200%+ =1028]

26. Would you be willing to pay $200 a year more in taxes?
(Results for respondents who would be willing to pay more in taxes for more government spending to help the poor)
[Total =1127,<100% =187, 100-200%= 338, 200%+ =602]

Methodology The results of this project are based on a nationwide telephone survey conducted in English and Spanish between January 4 and February 27, 2001, among a random representative sample of 1,952 respondents 18 years of age and older. There was an oversample of 546 respondents who were identified as having an income of less than 200% of the federal poverty level. Overall the sample included 294 respondents having an income of less than 100% of the federal poverty level, 613 having an income of between 100% and 200% of the federal poverty level, and 1,045 with an income above 200% of the federal poverty level. The results for all groups are weighted to reflect the actual distribution in the nation. The field work was conducted by ICR/International Communications Research. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points for total respondents, plus or minus 7.5 percentage points for those with an income of less than 100% of the federal poverty level, plus or minus 5.4 percentage points for those with an income of between 100% and 200% of the federal poverty level, and plus or minus 2.6 percentage points for those with an income above 200% of the federal poverty level. For results based on subsets of respondents the margin of error is higher. When interpreting the data, keep in mind that because this was a telephone survey, it under-represents groups less likely to have telephones, such as people with very low incomes.