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

% of whites 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
Religion60%34%4%2%8,122
Philosophy/reason34%61%4%1%2,824
Common sense49%46%3%2%11,053
Science32%64%3%2%2,194
Don't know34%43%13%9%707
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