Deserving Government Assistance? Public Support for Aid to Struggling Firms and Workers

Why does the public support government assistance for some firms and workers during hard times but not others? Much research has examined the role of culpability in perceptions of deservingness for workers, but here we develop a deservingness framework that includes both culpability and need considerations, and apply this to an examination of support for assistance for struggling firms and workers. We also consider whether attitudes toward economic inequality may moderate the importance of need versus culpability aspects. Using conjoint survey experiments in the U.S., we find that culpability for economic struggles reduces the perceived deservingness of both workers and firms, and that workers who earn less and firms with lower salary employees and CEOs are viewed as more deserving of assistance. Individuals concerned about income inequality are especially likely to view low-income workers as deserving of government support.