Democrat voters think privilege, not hard work, is the reason some people have more money than others – and that the federal government should step in to equalize wealth – results of a new Pew poll reveal.
“What do you think is the more important factor in determining why some people are richer than others?” Pew asked U.S. registered voters in a national survey conducted Oct. 2-5, providing the following choices:
- “How hard they work.”
- “Whether they come from a privileged background.”
- “Equally important.”
- “Not sure.”
Conspicuously absent from the survey by the left-leaning publication and research group are the options to attribute greater wealth to factors such as “skill/talent,” “type of job,” or “success at work.”
Only 9% of Democrats said “how hard they work” was more important than “whether they come from a privileged background.” Meanwhile, six times as many, a 55% majority, called privilege more important than hard work.
In contrast, Republicans were more than twice as likely to cite hard work (38%), rather than privilege (18%), as the reason some people are richer than others. Thus, Republicans were over four times more likely than Democrats to credit hard work.
Additionally, more Republicans (37%) than Democrats (30%) called hard work and privilege “equally important.”
Among all registered voters surveyed (including Independents), privilege was cited by 38%, hard work by 22% and “equally important” by 32%. Another eight percent said they were “not sure.”
Democrat voters also overwhelmingly said they support having the federal government influence how much wealth people have relative to one another, when asked the following question:
“Do you think the federal government should or should not pursue policies that try to reduce the gap in wealth between the richest and poorest Americans?”
Fully 85% of Democrats said the federal government should use policies to reduce the wealth gap, dwarfing the mere 3% who said it should not.
Another 12% of Democrats said they weren’t sure. Democrat voters’ support for having the federal government influence the amount of wealth people have was nearly two and a half times that of Republicans (35%).
In all, 58% of U.S. registered voters said the federal government should equalize wealth, 23% said it shouldn’t and 19% weren’t sure.
Again, the survey question did not take into consideration how differences in skill level and career (professional athlete vs. cashier, etc.) result in disparities in wealth.
