It was also important for the survey to measure the opinions of those surveyed against the actual statistical evidence. For our second question we asked if subjects agreed or disagreed there are more poor American men than women. Well before our research, the group was unaware of the actual statistic. The United States Census of 2011 reported there were 17.7 million poor women compared to 12.4 million poor men. The 2011 U.S. Census also reported Single mothers were 87% more likely to be poor than single fathers, senior citizen women were 73% more likely to be poor than senior men, and employed women were 38% more likely to be poor than employed men. At every level of education, women were substantially more likely to be poor than men.
Another important aspect of U.S. poverty statistics are the working poor. The working poor are people who maintain regular employment but still live below the poverty line. For question three of the survey we informed participants of the definition of the working poor and asked which statement best represented their view of the matter. The statements given to choose from were with enough hard work, they can eventually advance out of poverty, they will stay the same and never advance out of poverty and lastly, they will eventually digress further into poverty. With the answers provided here we wanted to decipher if people saw those living as the working poor responsible for their status or not. The micro, individualist view would choose option one and determine hard work would ultimately get the individual out of poverty. While the macro, structural view would see the individual's status based on the societal deficiencies. Therefore, option two, the individual would stay the same, would better suit a structural opinion. For the third statement to choose from, we decided to represent a negative attitude toward the matter.
There is often a negative stigma attached to entitlement programs and their recipients in the United States.
