Voters back redistribution of wealth

November 27, 2014, 9:10 AM GMT+0

British people want 'more redistribution', a higher minimum wage, and a 50p top rate of tax – but they also want benefits to be cut

There has been a lot of discussion in recent months about this being a "low-pay recovery", that the rich are getting richer but the poor are getting relatively poorer.

So, for Red Box YouGov asked the nation: "Do you think there should be more or less government redistribution of income from the better-off to the less well-off?"

  • 56% said "more"
  • 22% thought the current balance "about right"
  • 9% who thought there should be "less" redistribution

We also discovered that 71% think the minimum wage is "too low" versus 20% who thought it was "about right", 2% who thought it "slightly too high" and just 1% who said "there should be no minimum wage". 54% think the top rate of tax for those earning £150,000 should be 50p or higher; but while redistribution from top to middle is popular, there is less enthusiasm about middle to bottom: 46% think benefits are too high, and only 23% think them too low.

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See the full poll results