Support for a government safety net for the poor is at its highest point in many years — roughly seven-in- ten (69%) now believe the government has a responsibility “to take care of people who can’t take care of themselves” — up from 61% in 2002. The number of Americans saying that the government should guarantee “every citizen enough to eat and a place to sleep” has increased by a similar margin over the past five years (from 63% to 69%); agreement with this statement is the highest it has been since 1991. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.