Poll: OWS least popular among lower income groups
Occupy Wall Street is being sold as a protest on behalf of the working class and against the rich and powerful, but a new Quinnipiac poll finds that the movement is least popular among lower income Americans.
Those polled with lower incomes were also the least aware of the movement.
Overall, according to the survey, Americans have an unfavorable view of the movement by a 39 percent to 30 percent margin. But in a result that would seem counterintuitive, the lowest income group polled -- those making under $30,000 -- had the least favorable view of the movement, at 26 percent, while those making over $100,000 gave the highest favorability rating to the movement, at 36 percent.
Part of this has to do with the fact that awareness of the movement increases with income (and higher income groups also expressed a higher unfavorable sentiment), but that doesn't fully explain things. For instance, the highest net negative rating of Occupy Wall Street comes among middle income Americans earning between $30,000 and $50,000. This group had a 41 percent unfavorable view compared with just a 28 percent favorable opinion.
Also, with the media trying to portray this as a populist movement, it's worth noting than two-thirds of those earning under $30,000 either haven't heard of the movement or have an unfavorable view of it.
It's true that other polls have found Americans with a less negative opinion of the movement. So only time will tell if this Quinnipiac poll is an outlier, or an indication that support for the movement is waning as it becomes better known and receives more negative attention.