Here's Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on the Issue of Poverty

Poverty compounds many policies and social issues, from education to incarceration, and affects communities regardless of political affiliation. This means that both sides have incentives to mitigate it, resulting in a lot of common ground on the issue.

Here are a few examples of data and stories to support that:

• 67% of Democrats, 73% of Independents, and 77% of Republicans are skeptical that the government knows enough to fix poverty, according to the Cato Institute’s (Lean Right) 2019 data.
• 83% of Republicans, 73% of Democrats, and 72% of Independents agree that the government’s war on poverty has been ineffective, and majorities of Democrats (69%), independents (76%), Republicans (90%), believe more economic growth will better help people in poverty, according to the same data from the Cato Institute.
• Across party lines, only 37% of Americans say they support the government getting active in reducing differences in income, while  39% oppose it outright, according to Forbes’s (Center) report on a 2019 survey from The Voter Study Group. 
• Among those who say there is too much income inequality, 56% of Republicans and 65% of Democrats say “ensuring workers have the skills they need for today’s jobs” would do a great deal to reduce economic inequality in the U.S., according to 2020 data from Pew Research (Center Bias).
• When those who say there’s too much economic inequality in the U.S. are asked about the best approach for addressing it, 89% of Republicans and 81% of Democrats say it would be better for the government to invest in education and job training programs for people who are poor, the same Pew Research survey found. 

See more examples of common ground on issues where you might not expect to find it:

• Here's Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on Abortion
• Here's Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on LGBTQ Issues
• Here's Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on Foreign Policy
• Here's Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on Education Policy
• Here’s Where Democrats and Republicans Agree on Crime
• Republicans and Democrats Actually Agree on These Gun Restriction Policies

Clare Ashcraft is the Bridging & Bias Assistant at AllSides. She has a Center bias.

This piece was reviewed and edited by Managing Editor Henry A. Brechter (Center) and Research Manager and Data Journalist Andrew Weinzierl (Lean Left)