Messaging Priorities

• Income inequality is a distraction from the issues that matter most to Americans.
• Be careful not to be sucked into the income inequality vortex.
• Redirect the conversation back to issues Americans really do care about, including health care, education, reducing the debt, and regulation.

Income inequality and the minimum wage are not significant issues with the majority of Americans and have less of an influence on motivating political participation than most other issues—despite the fact they have been hearing and reading about them quite a bit.

Source: Recommendations based off an online survey using a national representative sample of 966 U.S. voters conducted January 17-20, 2014 with a margin of error of ±3.1%.

American Perceptions Initiative is a project of The Heritage Foundation’s communications team.