An America Divided Along Class Lines? 75% 'Haves' Say No

Contrary to politicians and even polls that claim the U.S. is a nation deeply split between "haves" and "have-nots," a new IBD/TIPP Poll finds that three of four of us (75%) consider ourselves "haves."

This includes even those who make the least money. Fully 60% of those with incomes of $30,000 a year or less count themselves as "haves" vs. 34% who do not.

The percentage of "haves" goes up to 62% among those with incomes between $30,000 and $50,000, to 83.5% between $50,000 and $75,000 and to 90% those over $75,000.

Also contrary to conventional wisdom, a majority of Americans believe that "as a nation, we are materially better off today than we were 20 years ago." A solid 58% of the 924 adults surveyed from Nov. 2 to Nov. 8 were of that opinion vs. 37.5% who disagreed.

All in all, the IBD/TIPP Poll paints a picture of Americans satisfied with -- even thankful for -- what they have and how much more they have now than a generation ago.

This contrasts with the oft-heard positions of some politicians who see a widening gap between rich and poor and a need to close it. Chief among them is John Edwards, former U.S. senator and current candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, who has made the "Two Americas" the theme of his populist campaign.

The IBD/TIPP findings also differ sharply with those of a similar poll taken in September by the Pew Research Center.

When Pew asked, "Is America divided into 'haves' and 'have-nots'?" 48% answered "yes" and 48% answered "no." When it further asked, "If you had to choose, are you in the 'haves' or 'have-nots'?," 45% chose "haves" and 34% "have-nots." Another 21% didn't know or weren't sure.

IBD/TIPP asked the question this way: "All things considered, do you consider yourself to be part of America's haves or part of America's have-nots?"

The 30-percentage-point difference between IBD/TIPP and Pew on the have/have-not question is huge.

According to IBD's pollster, Raghavan Mayur, president of TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, the polls differed in several ways, including sample sizes, weighting schemes, answer options, question wording and survey content.

Be that as it may, Pew made much of the divisions that it believed it found and the changes since Gallup polled on the subject 20 years ago.

In a report titled "A Nation of 'Haves' and 'Have-Nots?," it observed that "over the past two decades, a growing share of the public has come to the view that American society is divided into two groups, the 'haves' and the 'have-nots.'

"Of equal importance," it added, "the number of Americans who see themselves among the 'have-nots' has doubled over the last two decades, from 17% in 1988 to 34% today.

"In 1988, far more Americans said that . . . they were probably among the 'haves' (59%) than the 'have-nots.'"

The IBD/TIPP data, however, do not indicate that more Americans have drifted into the "have-not" camp. In fact, the 75% who consider themselves "haves" today vs. the 59% responding to the earlier Gallup survey suggest that more have joined the "haves."

The fact that 58% believe we are materially better off also supports this finding.

A closer look at the IBD/TIPP results finds very little difference in the way men and women or the various age groups categorize themselves.

Wider differences are apparent among political affiliations, with Republicans splitting 82% to 12% among "haves" and "have-nots," Democrats at 68%-27% and independents at 77%-20%.

Racial samples were too small to generalize about. But for the record, the breakdown for blacks and Hispanics was 71% "haves" and 29% "have-nots." (For whites, it was 76%-16%.)

Among regions, the West had the most "haves," with 81%, and the Midwest had the least, with 67%. The poll also distinguished between "investors," 82% of whom said they were "haves." "Non-investors" came in at 63%.

On whether the nation is better off now than in 1987, both Republicans and independents differed with Democrats. By a 76% to 23%, Republicans agreed we're better off (with 52% agreeing "strongly"), and independents agreed 60%-39%. But only 45% of Democrats agreed vs. 49% who didn't.

Differences were also observed among regions, with the Northeast at 69% and the South at 62% agreeing more than the West (51.5%) and the Midwest (51%).

Whites split 61.5% to 36% and blacks and Hispanics 52% to 39%. Sixty-five percent of investors think we're better off than 20 years ago vs. 34% who don't. Non-investors split 50% to 42%. Respondents over 65 were the only age group that didn't think things have improved.

The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.