Views about government aid to the poor among adults in the West by sources of guidance on right and wrong (2014) Switch to: Sources of guidance on right and wrong among adults in the West by views about government aid to the poor

% of adults in the West who say government aid to the poor…

Sources of guidance on right and wrongDoes more harm than goodDoes more good than harmNeither/both equallyDon't knowSample size
Religion51%44%3%2%2,518
Philosophy/reason29%65%4%2%1,094
Common sense42%53%4%2%3,697
Science33%63%2%2%902
Don't know28%50%11%11%287
Sample sizes and margins of error vary from subgroup to subgroup, from year to year and from state to state. You can see the sample size for the estimates in this chart on rollover or in the last column of the table. And visit this table to see approximate margins of error for a group of a given size. Readers should always bear in mind the approximate margin of error for the group they are examining when making comparisons with other groups or assessing the significance of trends over time. For full question wording, see the survey questionnaire.

Learn More: Does more harm than good, Does more good than harm