WASHINGTON — Nearly 4 in 10 Americans want the government to do more to reduce the widening gap between rich and poor, according to poll results released Tuesday.
But there was no clear consensus among respondents in the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey for addressing income inequality, a topic that was expected to be a major focus of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.
The poll found that 37 percent of respondents said they want the government to be more involved in reducing income inequality, which has widened since the end of the Great Recession. An additional 14 percent said they want the government just to be involved as it already is.
That means a bare majority of 51 percent said they want Washington to address the matter. Nearly the same amount, 46 percent, have a different view.
A quarter of respondents said the government should not be involved at all in dealing with income inequality, and 21 percent said they want officials to be less involved.
The new poll goes beyond results released by Gallup last week, which indicated 67 percent said they were dissatisfied with the way income and wealth are distributed in the U.S.
When it comes to priorities for the White House and Congress, the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 45 percent said reducing income inequality was an “absolute priority this year.” About a quarter – 26 percent – said federal officials could wait until next year to address it, and 27 percent said it should not be pursued at all.
With 45 percent saying they want it to be a priority this year, income inequality ranked 12th on a list of issues facing the nation. The top issue was creating jobs, with 91 percent saying it should be a priority.
Other problems topping income inequality as pressing matters were reducing the federal budget deficit, ensuring all children have access to preschool education, and addressing Iran’s nuclear program.
A couple of issues that ranked above income equality are linked to it, including closing corporate tax loopholes, increasing the minimum wage, and using federal aid to encourage colleges to offer affordable tuition.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the margin of error for the poll, which includes 800 respondents, is 3.46 percentage points.
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&Copy;2014 Los Angeles Times
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