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White Americans' fear of losing their socioeconomic standing in the face of demographic change may be driving opposition to welfare programs, even though whites are major beneficiaries of government poverty assistance, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University.
While social scientists have long posited that racial resentment fuels opposition to such anti-poverty programs as food stamps, Medicaid and Temporary Aid to Needy Families, this is the first study to show the correlation experimentally, demonstrating a causal relationship between attitudes to welfare and threatened racial status.
"With policymakers proposing cuts to the social safety net, it's important to understand the dynamics that drive the welfare backlash," said study lead author Rachel Wetts, a Ph.D. student in sociology at UC Berkeley. "This research suggests that when whites fear their status is on the decline, they increase opposition to programs intended to benefit poorer members of all racial groups."
The findings, to be published May 30 in the journal Social Forces, highlight a welfare backlash that swelled around the 2008 Great Recession and election of Barack Obama.
Notably, the study found anti-welfare sentiment to be selective insofar as threats to whites' standing led whites to oppose government assistance programs they believed largely benefit minorities, while not affecting their views of programs they thought were more likely to advantage whites.
"Our findings suggest that these threats lead whites to oppose programs they perceive as primarily benefiting racial minorities," said study senior author Robb Willer, a professor of sociology and social psychology at Stanford University.
[...] "Overall, these results suggest whites' perceptions of rising minority power and influence lead them to oppose welfare programs," Wetts said.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday June 02 2018, @04:14PM (4 children)
You're an idiot. Not all religions require that you feed the poor. I'll presume that you meant "religious Christians". And, even at that, you kinda miss the mark. "The poor will always be with you." That is kind of a nod to the fact that poverty can't be cured. You can't prevent another human being from squandering his money - nor can you prevent him from being hungry when his money is all gone.
Anyway - if you have to have poor people, then charitable people should feel free to feed them. But, since we don't have a Christian government, then our government has no authority to take my/our money and donate it to the poor.
What I think I may hear you saying is, you WISH that we had a Christian government. Tell us that isn't so! I can't believe that you, who abhor all religions, would actually desire a Christian government!!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by requerdanos on Saturday June 02 2018, @04:58PM
Couple problems with drawing unfounded conclusions. I thought there were enough of those [soylentnews.org] in TFS/TFA, but...
Or merely advance notice that though it could easily be cured, it isn't going to be, not completely. Or that "poor" will be redefined each time the current definition of "poor" is cured, such that "poor" will always be a thing.
The government's [non]affiliation with anyone's religion of choice has precious little to do with its authority. For example, they could be both nonchristian and compassionate. (I am not saying that this is the case; just that it could be.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 03 2018, @12:00AM (2 children)
No, Runaway, you are the idiot! And you are displaying your ignorance yet again. Do you not know of the requirements of a Muslim to feed the poor? Do you not know what Buddhist monks do when they are not meditating? The only religions that do not require charity are Joel Osteen and Republicans, and those are business models, not religions. Now shut up, Runaway, before you embarrass yourself further.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday June 03 2018, @12:10AM (1 child)
So, from a sample of two religions, you have concluded that all religions require their followers to feed the poor. What about Chthulhu? Doesn't he just eat the poor?
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday June 03 2018, @05:45AM
There are many fake, or joke, religions. And folks don't always know when they're in one. The religion with the Kool-aid, the religion with the comet -- can we call those joke religions? But folks went along, a lot of them went along. Not everybody. But when somebody points a gun at you and says, "drink the Kool-aid," maybe you drink, right? I call it a joke, it was supposed to be a joke. But really, not that funny.
You need a religion, it’s very important, you try to avoid the fake ones. I am a Protestant. I am a Presbyterian within the Protestant group and I go to Church as much as I can. And I am a believer. Now I don’t know if that makes me conservative or not, but I am a believer.
My daughter went with Jewish. Not what I picked, but if I was marrying a guy and he was Jewish, maybe I'd try the Jewish -- although, I wouldn't marry a guy. As everybody knows. And Jewish is working out great for her. She wears it very well. In fact I sent her to Jerusalem -- they call it that because it's the home of the Jews -- to open my beautiful new embassy. And she did a tremendous job, she looked great. As she always does. I call her my SJW, my Sexy Jewish Woman.