Household income levels define what is morally acceptable for Canadians
Those in the higher-income bracket tend to be more accepting of things like wearing animal fur and gambling than those in the lower-income bracket.
A new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll conducted for Maclean’s has found that the moral compass of Canadians is sometimes linked to their income level.
In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,003 Canadian adults, most respondents in the higher-income bracket (54%) find pornography morally acceptable, while fewer in the middle-income (41%) and lower-income income brackets (37%) agree.
The same is true when Canadians assess whether the death penalty is morally acceptable. Sixty-three per cent of respondents in the higher-income bracket have no moral qualms about capital punishment, but this proportion is lower amongst middle-income respondents (52%), and drops even further amongst lower-income Canadians (46%).
For the purpose of this analysis, Canadians were divided into three categories according to their yearly household income: $50,000 or less (lower-income), between $50,000 and $99,000 (middle-income), and $100,000 or more (higher-income).
Respondents in the higher- income bracket are more likely than other Canadians to believe that certain issues are morally acceptable. For instance, while almost eight-in-ten (78%) people in this group regard embryonic stem-cell research as morally acceptable, this is true for 73 per cent of those in the middle-income bracket, and 62 per cent of those in the lower-income group.
Lifestyle choices such as wearing animal fur (65%) or gambling (76%) are morally acceptable for higher-income Canadians; but fewer respondents in the middle-income bracket also accept them (58% and 68%, respectively). Less than half of those in the lower-income bracket, however, feel the same way about wearing animal fur (47%) or gambling (49%).
Middle Income Canadians
In some cases, it is middle-income Canadians who appear readier than others to see issues as morally acceptable.
About three quarters of respondents in the middle-income bracket (74%) regard sexual relations between two people of the same sex as acceptable, compared to 67 per cent of higher-income Canadians, and 58 per cent of those in the lower-income bracket.
In cases when a married man or woman has an affair, a fifth of middle-income Canadians (21%) condone it, but less than 15 per cent of those in other brackets concur.
Middle-income Canadians (70%) are also slightly more inclined than those in the higher-income bracket (66%) to find doctor-assisted suicide morally acceptable. Fewer lower-income respondents (60%) agree.
Agreement Regardless of Income
Although the trend remains—higher-income Canadians being more inclined view certain issues as morally acceptable—Canadians of all income levels reject certain sensitive issues.
For instance, only between 21 and 27 per cent of respondents in each income bracket condone the use of illegal drugs; between 27 and 31 per cent say suicide is morally acceptable; between 12 and 13 per cent accept the cloning of humans; between 11 and 15 per cent can accept polygamy, and only one or two per cent tolerate paedophilia.
On the other hand, there are certain issues seen as morally acceptable by a solid majority of Canadians in every income level. This is the case with contraception (more than 90%), divorce (more than 80%), having a baby outside of marriage (between 76% and 83%), and abortion (more than 60%).
Analysis
Overall, the survey has found a trend showing that Canadians with higher household incomes are more prone to see a wide array of situations, lifestyle choices and social issues as morally acceptable than middle- and lower-income Canadians.
In fewer cases, those in the middle-income bracket are the ones pushing a trend towards moral acceptability. In any case, Canadians in the lower income bracket—those living in households making $50,000 or less—are less inclined to accept the moral validity of most of the issues gauged in this exercise.
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