More than one-third of U.S. families, who now list themselves among the nation's "haves," fear becoming poor, a new survey shows. And that fear, along with virtual unanimity that poverty is a problem, should spur wide dialogue on what to do about it, survey sponsors contend.
The survey, for the Marguerite Casey Foundation, said slightly more than nine of every 10 respondents agree poverty is a problem. Three in five call it a big problem. And 97 percent of families agree the gap between the rich and the poor is widening.
By a 3-2 margin, they'd be willing to pay $200 more a year in taxes, per family, for more government spending to help the poor.
However, opinions diverge on if the rich-poor gap can be closed. Fifty-six percent of families say it can be shut, while 40 percent saw it as inevitable. Higher proportions of families whose income was below the U.S. poverty line and those who earned up to double the poverty line said it could be closed. But 42 percent of the highest group -- those whose family income was above 200 percent of poverty -- saw the gap as inevitable, while 54 percent did not.
"Hurricane Katrina laid bare the hardship of America's poor," Luz Vega-Marquis, the foundation?s president said, in unveiling the findings on Oct. 18. "Our hope is that it provokes dialogue" about those conditions and what to do about poverty, she added.
But while survey respondents call poverty a problem, only 2 percent name it as "the most important issue" facing the U.S. That trails "national security/safety/terrorism and war" (17 percent), the war in Iraq (16 percent), health care (10 percent), the economy (7 percent), child welfare and education (5 percent), moral values (5 percent), George W. Bush/government (5 percent) and Social Security (3 percent).
The reasons families gave for poverty were: Employers' benefit cuts, especially in health care (91 percent calling it a "major" or "minor" reason), lack of job skills (90 percent), outsourcing (90 percent), a too-low minimum wage (88 percent), part-time jobs (85 percent), single-parent families (82 percent), "lack of motivation" (75 percent), and "too many immigrants" (72 percent). Between 60 percent and two-thirds called the too-low minimum wage, outsourcing and health care cuts "a major reason" for poverty. The others were in the 50s, except immigrants (39 percent "major").
The survey of 1,546 families -- 277 very low-income, 728 moderate-income and 541 high-income -- also showed surprising agreement both on causes of poverty and on measures to reduce it. Virtually none of the moves they support are being considered by the GOP-controlled Congress or GOP President George W. Bush.
By an 83 percent-15 percent margin, they support raising the minimum wage. That's just behind the 85-13 margin for increasing the earned income tax credit. Expanding subsidized day care was backed 90-9 percent, while expanding medical care for the poor was supported 84-13. And by a 57-38 percent margin, the families said they would be willing to pay $200 more a year in taxes "for government spending to help the poor." That included a 55-40 margin among the highest income group.
But with a resistant political class in Washington, the foundation is turning to publicity and mobilization to put public pressure on lawmakers and Bush on the poverty problem, Vega-Marquis said.
"We?re trying to support advocacy, activism and education of lower-income families, to move these policies," she explained. That includes the foundation's support for the living wage campaign nationwide and educational brochures on the earned income tax credit, "one of the most important sources for low-income people today."
For more information
Visit the foundation's website, www.caseygrants.org
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More than one-third of U.S. families, who now list themselves among the nation’s “haves,” fear becoming poor, a new survey shows. And that fear, along with virtual unanimity that poverty is a problem, should spur wide dialogue on what to do about it, survey sponsors contend.
The survey, for the Marguerite Casey Foundation, said slightly more than nine of every 10 respondents agree poverty is a problem. Three in five call it a big problem. And 97 percent of families agree the gap between the rich and the poor is widening.
By a 3-2 margin, they’d be willing to pay $200 more a year in taxes, per family, for more government spending to help the poor.
However, opinions diverge on if the rich-poor gap can be closed. Fifty-six percent of families say it can be shut, while 40 percent saw it as inevitable. Higher proportions of families whose income was below the U.S. poverty line and those who earned up to double the poverty line said it could be closed. But 42 percent of the highest group — those whose family income was above 200 percent of poverty — saw the gap as inevitable, while 54 percent did not.
“Hurricane Katrina laid bare the hardship of America’s poor,” Luz Vega-Marquis, the foundation?s president said, in unveiling the findings on Oct. 18. “Our hope is that it provokes dialogue” about those conditions and what to do about poverty, she added.
But while survey respondents call poverty a problem, only 2 percent name it as “the most important issue” facing the U.S. That trails “national security/safety/terrorism and war” (17 percent), the war in Iraq (16 percent), health care (10 percent), the economy (7 percent), child welfare and education (5 percent), moral values (5 percent), George W. Bush/government (5 percent) and Social Security (3 percent).
The reasons families gave for poverty were: Employers’ benefit cuts, especially in health care (91 percent calling it a “major” or “minor” reason), lack of job skills (90 percent), outsourcing (90 percent), a too-low minimum wage (88 percent), part-time jobs (85 percent), single-parent families (82 percent), “lack of motivation” (75 percent), and “too many immigrants” (72 percent). Between 60 percent and two-thirds called the too-low minimum wage, outsourcing and health care cuts “a major reason” for poverty. The others were in the 50s, except immigrants (39 percent “major”).
The survey of 1,546 families — 277 very low-income, 728 moderate-income and 541 high-income — also showed surprising agreement both on causes of poverty and on measures to reduce it. Virtually none of the moves they support are being considered by the GOP-controlled Congress or GOP President George W. Bush.
By an 83 percent-15 percent margin, they support raising the minimum wage. That’s just behind the 85-13 margin for increasing the earned income tax credit. Expanding subsidized day care was backed 90-9 percent, while expanding medical care for the poor was supported 84-13. And by a 57-38 percent margin, the families said they would be willing to pay $200 more a year in taxes “for government spending to help the poor.” That included a 55-40 margin among the highest income group.
But with a resistant political class in Washington, the foundation is turning to publicity and mobilization to put public pressure on lawmakers and Bush on the poverty problem, Vega-Marquis said.
“We?re trying to support advocacy, activism and education of lower-income families, to move these policies,” she explained. That includes the foundation’s support for the living wage campaign nationwide and educational brochures on the earned income tax credit, “one of the most important sources for low-income people today.”
For more information
Visit the foundation’s website, www.caseygrants.org