Americans See Inequality as a Major Problem

Division as to who would be best to address it - Republicans or President Obama

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Apr 05, 2012, 06:04 ET

NEW YORK, April 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Harris Poll examines the issue of inequality and whether or not it has potential traction in the presidential and congressional elections this fall. The results show that it could well be an important issue because a majority of Americans believe that inequality is a "major problem" and that it is important "that the government introduce policies to reduce inequality". Furthermore, large majorities of the public believe that major causes of inequality include the influence of both big business and the rich on government policies, and that increasing taxes on the very rich would be "fair" and "the right thing to do."

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However, the poll also finds that the issue is not a slam-dunk for President Obama and the Democrats. Only 39% of all adults believe that President Obama would, as president, do the best job of addressing the issue of inequality. And only a modest 38% to 23% plurality believes that the Democrats would do a better job than the Republicans.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,451 adults surveyed online between March 12 and 19, 2012 by Harris Interactive.

The key findings of this poll include:

Only 10% of adults (and only 19% of Republicans) think that economic inequality is "not a problem at all". Most people think it is either a major problem (57%) or a minor problem (23%);
Most people (62%), including 43% of Republicans and 60% of Independents, think it is important that "the government introduce policies to reduce inequality in the U.S.", and 34% think this is very important;
Inequality is thought to have many causes including the loss of manufacturing jobs to China, India and other countries (81%), the influence of big business (78%) and the very rich (76%) on government, and the tax system (77%);
A 60% majority thinks that taxes on the middle class are too high, while most people think that taxes are too low on the people with incomes of $1 million (62%) and on billionaires (69%); and,
Most people think that "increasing taxes on the very rich" would be fair (70%), be the right thing to do (69%), and would help to reduce the budget deficit (64%). Only 32% of all adults think that "it would hurt the economy because they are the ones who create jobs".

In other words, most people agree with positions taken by President Obama and Democrats on the issue of inequality.

However, other findings of this Harris Poll suggest that it may not be easy for the President's camp to turn these feelings into votes. When asked which party would be likely to do a better job of addressing the issue of inequality, the Democrats only lead by 38% to 23%, with fully 39% saying an "other party" or that they are not sure. And, when asked which of the presidential candidates would do the best job of addressing inequality, only 39% choose President Obama, while 36% choose one of the current Republican candidates, and 26% are not sure.

So What?

Over the last few months much has been said and written on the issue of inequality. Attention has been focused on the fact that inequality – and specifically the gap between the very rich and the middle class – have been increasing in the U.S. and are now wider here than in many other countries. It has been suggested that Americans were more willing than people in other developed countries to accept this inequality, in part because they felt they and their children had a good chance of being upwardly mobile and participating in the American Dream. Furthermore, those who talked about inequality have often been accused of "class warfare".

This Harris Poll suggests that inequality is now an issue that resonates with most Americans, including most Independents and many Republicans, and which has the potential to be very helpful to the Democrats in the November elections. However – and this may be the biggest surprise in the poll – most people do not believe that the Democrats or President Obama would do a better job than the Republicans on this issue. If the Democrats want to win votes on this issue they have much work to do before most people accept their case.

TABLE 1
ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AS A PROBLEM OR NOT
"Do you think that economic inequality in the U.S. today is a major problem, a minor problem or not a problem at all?"

Base: All adults

	Total	Political Party			Philosophy			Gender
	Total	Rep.	Dem.	Ind.	Cons.	Mod.	Lib.	Male	Female
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Major problem	57	38	74	56	34	60	82	53	60
Minor problem	23	33	16	24	31	24	9	26	20
Not a problem at all	10	19	2	11	23	6	2	13	7
Not at all sure	10	10	8	9	12	10	8	7	13