What do American people think about welfare state?
Economic axis · 🇺🇸 the United States · measured continuously, published only above 100 responses.
31% of American respondents take the position “The state should provide health care, free when you need it.”, against 45% for “Health care should mostly be bought and sold, with help for those who cannot pay.”, with 24% choosing neither. n = 117, margin of error ±9.6, weighted to the United States's adult population.
Where the United States sits on economic
What is measured about the United States on this axis. These are facts about the country, not what its people think about them — that is the part of this page waiting on a sample.
|
Health spending
WHO Global Health Expenditure · 2023
|
16.7% |
among the highest in the world
|
|
Tax revenue
IMF Government Finance Statistics · 2024
|
10.8% |
lower than most countries
|
|
Income inequality (Gini)
World Bank PovcalNet/PIP · 2024
|
41.8 0–100 |
higher than most countries
|
|
Life expectancy
UN World Population Prospects · 2024
|
78.9 years |
somewhat above the middle
|
Ranked against every country with a published figure for the same series. Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators, which republish UN, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, SIPRI, IISS and UNODC data.
The questions that bear on welfare state
Asked as a forced choice between two written positions, in randomised order, with the sides flipped for half of respondents.
|
A · Health care should mostly be bought and sold, with help for those who cannot pay.
B · The state should provide health care, free when you need it.
World, unweighted: 22% A ·
20% neither ·
58% B · n = 4750
|
31% B 🇺🇸 n=117 |
|
A · Free trade and business have done more to end poverty than state help has.
B · State help has done more to end poverty than free trade and business have.
World, unweighted: 22% A ·
20% neither ·
58% B · n = 4766
|
33% B 🇺🇸 n=111 |
|
A · Money from the state should go to people who work, or who clearly need it.
B · The state should pay everyone enough to live on, with no strings.
World, unweighted: 24% A ·
20% neither ·
56% B · n = 4775
|
26% B 🇺🇸 n=116 |
A national figure appears only once that nation clears 100 responses on the question. The world column is a raw count of every answer received and is not post-stratified — it is shown because withholding it would say less, not more.
Asked another way
The same question, as people put it.
- The united states public opinion on welfare state
- Welfare state poll the united states
- What do american people think about welfare state
- What percentage of american people support welfare state
Each has one answer on this page, and it is the same answer.