Broad Majorities See Inequality as a Problem
It’s certainly a topic on the minds of average citizens around the world. In a spring 2014 Pew Research Center survey, majorities in all 44 nations polled described the gap between rich and poor as a big problem for their country, and majorities in 28 nations said it was a very big problem. Concerns about inequality are most common in Africa, although they are widespread in wealthier parts of the world as well, especially in European nations such as Greece (84% very big problem), Spain (74%) and Italy (73%) that were hit hard by the Great Recession.
Inequality is also a high-profile topic in the U.S., where President Obama called for higher taxes on the rich in his State of the Union address. Americans across the ideological spectrum see it as a big problem, including majorities of Democrats (89%), independents (77%) and Republicans (60%) in the spring 2014 poll. However, the view that inequality is a very big problem is much more common among Democrats (59%) and independents (49%) than among Republicans (19%), and there is a big partisan divide over how the issue should be addressed.
Broad Majorities See Inequality as a Problem  | Very problem  | Moderately problem  | Net  | big Very problem  | big Moderately problem  | Africa  | 74%  | 19%  | 93%  | Europe  | 31  | 91  | 60  | Latin America  | 22  | 60  | 39  | Asia  | 43  | U.S.  | 32  | 78  | 46  | Mid Ille East  | 74  | 57  | 17  | Note: Median percenta ges by region Russia and Ukra line not included in Europe median.  | Source: Spring 2014 Global Attitudes survey.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 