'Undeserved': New Study Reveals Public Frustration Over How Much Systemic Help the Rich Receive

A new study of almost 5,000 people in the United States and Denmark has found a striking pattern in how the public views government help. Across both countries, people consistently believe the rich receive far more support from the political system than they deserve, while the sick, the poor, children and those with mental illness receive far less than they need.

The research, carried out by political scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark, surveyed 2,399 people in Denmark and 2,493 in the United States. It measured what the authors call a 'deservingness mismatch' – the gap between which groups people think politicians should help and which groups they believe are actually being helped.

What the Study Measured

Respondents were asked to rate, on a five-point scale from 'completely disagree' to 'completely agree', how much they agreed that politicians should help 20 different social groups. These ranged from the rich and the employed to the sick, the unemployed and ethnic minorities.

They were then asked to rate the same statement about whether politicians actually help each group. The difference between the two answers produced a mismatch score for every group in both countries, with the study's design pre-registered before data collection began.

The Rich Top the List for the Wrong Reason

The wealthy topped the list of groups seen as overserved in both countries, with the gap significantly wider in the United States than in Denmark. Meanwhile, people with mental illness, the poor, the elderly and the sick were rated the most underserved of all 20 groups in both countries.

According to the study, the pattern held even though Denmark runs a universal welfare state with generous social insurance. The United States, by contrast, relies on a leaner, more targeted system.

Left, Right and Centre Broadly Agree

Breaking the results down by political ideology, the study found the mismatch for most economically and health-related groups barely shifted between left-wing, centrist and right-leaning respondents. This included groups such as the sick, the elderly and the poor.

The researchers separately tested whether ideology changed the strength of the link between the mismatch and political discontent, running 400 tests across all 20 groups. Only a small handful showed a statistically meaningful pattern, a rate the authors describe as consistent with chance.

Ideology did matter on immigration and identity-related groups. Left-leaning respondents in both countries were more likely to see immigrants and ethnic minorities as underserved, while right-leaning respondents were more likely to see them as overserved.

Why This Feeds Political Distrust

The mismatch was not just a passing observation. It strongly predicted five separate measures of political discontent, including distrust in politicians, dissatisfaction with democracy, feelings of powerlessness and support for populist views.

A one standard deviation increase in the mismatch was linked to a five to eleven percentage point rise in discontent across the board. This held even after accounting for people's age, education, ideology and party allegiance.

To test cause and effect directly, the researchers also ran an experiment. Respondents were told a political committee had shifted funding away from a group they saw as deserving towards one they saw as undeserving.

That single scenario was enough to increase distrust and feelings of powerlessness. In some cases, it also increased agreement with statements rejecting democracy itself as the best form of government.

The findings suggest public discontent with politics is not driven only by economic conditions or how fairly politics is conducted. Rather, it stems from a deeper sense that resources are going to the wrong people.

Public trust in the US government has already fallen to some of its lowest levels in nearly seven decades. Only 17 per cent of Americans said they trust the federal government to do the right thing most or all of the time as of September 2025, according to Pew Research Center.

The study also lands against a backdrop of widening wealth gaps. The top one per cent of US households controlled 31.7 per cent of the country's wealth in the third quarter of 2025, the highest share on record since the Federal Reserve began tracking the figure in 1989, according to Federal Reserve data.

The researchers argue that because most social groups are seen as underserved at once, no single policy change could fix the mismatch. This makes the resulting discontent difficult for any government to resolve quickly.