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A new NBC News poll finds that many Americans feel a divide between the country’s wealthy and less wealthy people.
The poll, released June 18 and sponsored by the nonpartisan nonprofit organization More Perfect, found that a majority of those surveyed believe that most Americans share the same core values.
But the same majority of survey respondents (54%) also agreed that most Americans disagree on policies and issues.
In other words, 81% of those surveyed said that wealthy and non-rich people are more divided than united. Only 17% said these groups are more united than divided.
It happens as wealthy people around the world get even wealthier.
By 2025, the wealth of billionaires around the world will increase by more than 16% to $18.3 trillion, the highest level on record, according to Oxfam data. In America, wealth is decidedly skewed toward the elderly. According to Federal Reserve Bank per household data, 45-year-old Americans control only 11% of the nation’s wealth.
Poll shows many Americans feel wealthy are avoiding consequences
Although the poll included a variety of questions related to politics and policy issues, some of the most decisive results related to questions about wealth.
In addition to the majority of respondents agreeing that there is a division based on wealth, some also said that wealth can also come with privilege.
When asked whether wealthy Americans are often able to avoid the consequences that ordinary people would face for the same actions, 69% of respondents said they strongly agreed, and 17% said they somewhat agreed.
Some of those surveyed who spoke to NBC News, like Josh Webb, a 30-year-old Democrat from Tennessee who works in the manufacturing industry, said they believe wealthy and non-wealthy people live in “completely different worlds.”
But others said the difference was due to chance.
Mark, a 36-year-old Republican and lawn care worker from Ohio, told the magazine: “I’m far from wealthy, but there’s no difference between me and the owner of the company I work for. I have the same work ethic. He just had a better opportunity and he took it. I had that opportunity and I didn’t take it.”
Are Americans united or divided? See the poll results
Fifty-four percent of those surveyed said that most Americans share the same core values but disagree on policies and issues, and also asked about divisions between specific groups.
For example, 59% of respondents said they believe there is more to unite people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds than to divide them. Similarly, 55% said the same about immigrants and U.S.-born people.
The poll was conducted among 3,000 adults nationwide from May 29 to June 7, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points. Some questions were asked on half the sample, and the margin of error is ±2.5 percentage points.
Melina Khan is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. X Keep up with her at @melinakh and on Instagram @bymelinakhan.
