Margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points for results based on the total sample and 4.4 percentage points for adults ages 18 to 34 at the 95% confidence level.Interviews conducted December 6-19, 2011.Survey interviews were conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International, in English and Spanish. The data are weighted to produce a final sample that is representative of the general population of adults in the continental United States. A total of 769 interviews were completed with respondents contacted by landline telephone and 1,279 with those contacted on their cellular phone. This report is based on findings from a Pew Research Center telephone survey conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,048 adults ages 18 and older living in the continental United States, including 808 adults ages 18 to 34. For example, there has been no change in views about whether the rich became wealthy through personal effort or because they were fortunate enough to be from wealthy families or have the right connections.Ī 46% plurality believes that most rich people “are wealthy mainly because they know the right people or were born into wealthy families.” But nearly as many have a more favorable view of the rich: 43% say wealthy people became rich “mainly because of their own hard work, ambition or education,” largely unchanged from a Pew survey in 2008. In fact, other questions in the survey show that some key attitudes toward the wealthy have remained largely unchanged. Nor do these data suggest growing support for government measures to reduce income inequality. It is possible that individuals who see more conflict between the classes think that anger toward the rich is misdirected. While the survey results show a significant shift in public perceptions of class conflict in American life, they do not necessarily signal an increase in grievances toward the wealthy. Census Bureau data, the proportion of overall wealth-a measure that includes home equity, stocks and bonds and the value of jewelry, furniture and other possessions-held by the top 10% of the population increased from 49% in 2005 to 56% in 2009. But the changes also may also reflect a growing public awareness of underlying shifts in the distribution of wealth in American society. These changes in attitudes over a relatively short period of time may reflect the income and wealth inequality message conveyed by Occupy Wall Street protesters across the country in late 2011 that led to a spike in media attention to the topic. In each group the proportion who say there are major disagreements between rich and poor Americans increased by more than 20 percentage points since 2009. The biggest increases in perceptions of class conflicts occurred among political liberals and Americans who say they are not affiliated with either major party. At the same time, the proportion of blacks (74%) and Hispanics (61%) sharing this judgment has grown by single digits (8 and 6 points, respectively).
While blacks are still more likely than whites see serious class conflicts, the share of whites who hold this view has increased by 22 percentage points, to 65%, since 2009. However, the survey found that younger adults, women, Democrats and African Americans are somewhat more likely than older people, men, Republicans, whites or Hispanics to say there are strong disagreements between rich and poor. Virtually all major demographic groups now perceive significantly more class conflict than two years ago. Back in 2009, more survey respondents said there were strong conflicts between immigrants and the native born than said the same about the rich and the poor. That is double the proportion that offered a similar view in July 2009 and the largest share expressing this opinion since the question was first asked in 1987.Īs a result, in the public’s evaluations of divisions within American society, conflicts between rich and poor now rank ahead of three other potential sources of group tension-between immigrants and the native born between blacks and whites and between young and old. According to the new survey, three-in-ten Americans (30%) say there are “very strong conflicts” between poor people and rich people. Not only have perceptions of class conflict grown more prevalent so, too, has the belief that these disputes are intense. A new Pew Research Center survey of 2,048 adults finds that about two-thirds of the public (66%) believes there are “very strong” or “strong” conflicts between the rich and the poor-an increase of 19 percentage points since 2009. The Occupy Wall Street movement no longer occupies Wall Street, but the issue of class conflict has captured a growing share of the national consciousness.
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