Perceptions of Poverty Report by The Salvation Army 2012 National Poverty Report – Key Findings and Messages

Perceptions of Poverty       Report by The Salvation Army 

2012 National Poverty Report – Key Findings and Messages

Report Overview:

·         The Salvation Army conducted a survey of the general public’s attitudes toward poverty in order to highlight some of the myths and misperceptions around poverty and raise awareness of its programs and services that help those in need.

• “Perceptions of Poverty: The Salvation Army’s Report to America” was compiled from data collected during an online survey of the general public and examines Americans’ attitudes toward poverty.

• The survey was conducted online in February 2012 with a sample of 1,004 Americans drawn from thirty-party research firm Vision Critical’s Springboard America panel.  With a sample of this size, the data can be considered accurate with a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.

Survey Results:

·         Americans with lower household incomes are much more likely to have ever experienced a lack of shelter, as well as a need to request assistance or food from a food bank or charitable group.

o   Thirteen percent of Americans reported having spent a night in a shelter or on the street due to a loss of housing.

o   Twenty-six percent of Americans who earn less than $25,000 a year reported sleeping in a shelter or on the street, while the number dropped to six percent among those who earn at least $50,000 a year.

·         Overall, while most Americans believe people in poverty deserve a helping hand, a significant number are skeptical of how much can be done to help those in need.

o   Eighty-eight percent of Americans believe people living in poverty deserve a helping hand.

o   Thirty-two percent of Americans believe there is nothing much they can do to help people living in poverty.

·         The general public believes a yearly income level of approximately $18,472 makes a family “poor.”

·         Americans are unsure of the benefits of providing assistance to people in poverty.

o   Sixty percent of Americans believe providing those in need with more assistance can help them escape poverty.

o   Forty-seven percent of Americans believe poor people would take advantage of additional assistance if it was provided to them.

·         A majority of the American public recognizes the disadvantage of childhood poverty, and understands the link between helping families and children.

o   Seventy-five percent of Americans believe helping families in need benefits children from these families and sets them on a better path to success.

o   Thirty-five percent of Americans believe children living in poverty in America have the same chance as any other child to achieve in life.

·         A majority of the American public believe escaping poverty is difficult, and that eliminating poverty is not possible.

o   Sixty percent believe it is difficult to escape poverty once you become poor.

o   Fifty-nine percent of Americans believe poverty is a trap that some Americans can’t escape, no matter how hard they try.

o   Fifty-five percent of Americans believe it is not possible to eliminate poverty in our society.

·         Though nearly half of the American public believes a good work ethic is all that’s needed to escape poverty, a slight majority also believe escaping poverty is nearly impossible, demonstrating Americans’ uncertainty of the realities of poverty.

o   Forty-nine percent of Americans believe a good work ethic is all a person needs to escape poverty.

o   Forty-three percent of Americans believe people living in poverty can always find a job if they really want to work, with twenty-seven percent of Americans also believing that people are poor because they are lazy.

o   Twenty-nine percent of Americans believe poor people usually have lower moral values.

o   Sixty percent of Americans believe it is difficult to find a way out of poverty.

·         The farther a person is from poverty, the less common he or she thinks it is - individuals with a yearly income of at least $50,000 are less likely to believe that poverty is common or widespread than those making less than $50,000.

o   In total, the public believes approximately thirty-four percent of the general population is living in poverty.

o   Americans who earn less than $25,000 a year believe forty percent of the general population is living in poverty.

o   Americans who earn between $25,000 and $50,000 a year believe thirty-seven percent of the general population is living in poverty.

o   Americans who earn at least $50,000 a year believe twenty-seven percent of the general population is living in poverty.

·         While most Americans recognize the difficulty in surviving solely on minimum wage, a significant minority are relatively unconcerned about poverty, particularly those with a yearly income of at least $50,000.

o   Eighty-four percent of Americans believe it is almost impossible to survive on your own on minimum wage.

o   Sixty percent of Americans believe being poor robs you of your dignity.

o   Thirty-two percent of Americans believe people in America who are living in poverty “still have it pretty good.”

o   Twenty-seven percent of Americans don’t see many people who are truly poor.

·         Despite the reported mixed feelings regarding the realities of poverty, those who earn a yearly income of at least $50,000 are most likely to donate money to a charity.

o   Fifty-nine percent of the public reported contributing to a charity in 2011.

o   Seventy percent of Americans who earn at least $50,000 a year donated to a charity in 2011.

o   Sixty-one percent of Americans who earn between $25,000 and $50,000 a year donated to a charity in 2011.

o   Forty-six percent of Americans who earn less than $25,000 a year donated to a charity in 2011.