[homeles_ot-l] Canada and United States concerned over poverty (Angus Reid ).

[lj1967 at sympatico.ca]

Myths on poverty and homelessness die hard.
http://homelessnation.org<http://homelessnation.org/>
Angus Reid Poll: Canada and United States concerned over poverty
09.05.07 Wednesday

<http://angus-reid.com/>


NORTH AMERICAN POLL: CANADA AND UNITED STATES

Canada and United States concerned about poverty 

Canadians, Americans see poverty as combination of lack of will and chance; More Americans (43%) than Canadians (37%) think people don't do enough to get out of poverty 



[VANCOUVER - Sept. 5, 2007] - Poverty is a pressing issue for people in North America, according to a bi-national survey conducted by the Angus Reid Global Monitor<http://angus-reid.com/> in partnership with Angus Reid Strategies. 

The online survey of representative national samples of adults in Canada and the United States-two nations belonging to the group of eight rich industrialized countries-found that people are concerned about national poverty levels and doubt the efficiency of government anti-poverty programs. 

Thirty-four per cent of respondents in Canada think poverty is a very serious issue in their own country, while 58 per cent per cent of people in the U.S. think the same. Overall, 80 per cent of Canadians say poverty is at least a moderately serious problem, and the number is higher in the U.S. (89%).  

More Canadians than Americans think poverty is caused mainly by circumstances that escape people's control. Thirty-seven per cent of those surveyed in Canada think people are not doing enough to get themselves out of poverty, while 51 per cent think external factors cause people to be poor. In contrast, 43 per cent of Americans think poverty is a result of lack of will, and 47 per cent think poor people cannot alleviate their situation. 

Confidence in government-sponsored anti-poverty efforts is clearly low in both countries. In Canada, 46 per cent of respondents say such programs have no impact on poor people's lives, and 18 per cent think they actually make things worse. In the U.S., 37 per cent of respondents also think these programs make no difference, while 32 per cent think they exacerbate the living conditions of the poor.

Male respondents (28%) and those aged 35 to 54 are less inclined to believe that poverty is a serious problem in Canada. In the U.S., men (50%) and those aged 18 to 34 are also less prone to think poverty is a serious national issue. 

Curiously, more Canadian men (24%) than women (15%) think that government efforts to combat poverty have a positive impact on poor people's lives.

More information and detailed breakdown tables on attached PDF.<http://angusreidstrategies.com/uploads/pages/pdfs/2007.09.05%20Poverty%20Press%20Release.pdf>



Contact:  Mario Canseco, Director of Global Studies
604-647-3570 or mario.canseco at angus-reid.com<mailto:mario.canseco at angus-reid.com> 

http://homelessnation.org<http://homelessnation.org/>

Tuitio ad servitium pauperum -- Breath & Shadow: 

"I worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty." 
-Groucho Marx. 

"Those who do not feel pain much, seldom think that it is felt. And yes, to wipe all tears from all faces is a task too hard for mortals; but to alleviate misfortunes is often within the most limited power: yet the opportunities which every day affords of relieving the most wretched of human beings are overlooked and neglected with equal disregard of policy and goodness." 
~ Samuel Johnson.

"Aucune crédibilité sans qualité de la vie pour vulnérable mal portant de la société. Maltho thi afrio lito? Oui, faits du tort pardonnent, mais ils n'oublient pas. Les pauvres portent le fardeau de maintenir le privilège de notre société." ~Madame Citoyen Sans-Culotte.

"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit." ~Abbie Hoffman.

"I sit on a person's back, choking them and making them carry me, and yet I assure myself and others that I am very sorry for them and wish to ease their lot by all possible means -- except by getting off their back." 
- Leo Tolstoy.

Live to make civil society every day -- Ne lache pas!
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