With hard times facing so many, what do Americans think about taking action to fight poverty?

In a Gerstein/Agne poll for Half in Ten conducted shortly after the election, more than three quarters of respondents said that cutting poverty in half in the next ten years should be a national goal. A majority reaffirmed that this should be true even if it means more government spending, or more regulation of business. And there was agreement across ideology, age, and race that “the negative consequences of poverty affect all of us” as opposed to “mostly those living in poor neighborhoods,” with 77% of respondents preferring the first option. Further evidence that the problem of poverty strikes close to home for many: 52% said that either they themselves or a member of their immediate family was poor, up from 36% who answered the question that way in a 2001 Pew survey.

Click here to download a slideshow with additional survey results.

Click here to download Gerstein/Agne memo on the survey.

A new National Women’s Law Center poll shows women are particularly concerned about their economic future. 75 percent of the women surveyed feel we still must do more or that we still have a long way to go when it comes to providing families with both current and future economic security. Huge margins favor increasing the minimum wage, expanding the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, guaranteeing access to quality health care, boosting access to child care and early education programs, and making all workers eligible for the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Read the complete poll results here.

A new poll from Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity found that 56 percent of voters believe media has not done enough to cover the issue of domestic poverty.

Read the complete poll results here.

The results of the Hunger Message Project reveal that over one in four voters worry they, or someone they know, will go hungry. Respondents believe hunger should be a key issue in the coming election, and over 75 percent of them think we can dramatically reduce hunger in the United States if we make it a national priority.

Read the complete poll results here.

A new Gallup poll shows 49 percent of Americans believe the U.S. is split between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots.’ About a third of Americans place themselves into the category of the ‘have not.’ And an overwhelming 84% of Americans have a very negative view of the American economy — a sharp increase from the 55 percent who held this view in 2006 and the 41 percent who held this view in 2004.

Read the complete poll results here.