Explanations for Global Poverty: The Irish Public 2021-2026
Since 2020, Worldview has been tracking public attitudes and perceptions of international development in Ireland, now with seven complete annual surveys. Over that time, one finding has remained remarkably consistent: support for overseas development assistance remains high, rooted in the Irish public’s strong values-based commitment to tackling global poverty.
We’ve seen an important shift in how the Irish public understands poverty. Rather than viewing poverty primarily through the lens of pity or charity, the public increasingly understands development through shared humanity, human rights and humanitarian principles. And this support has remained strong, even amid cost-of-living pressures at home and ongoing geopolitical conflicts abroad.
But our research also points to a significant challenge. We have a supportive public, but not necessarily a well-informed one when it comes to the causes of global poverty. War, corruption and in-country issues are consistently cited as the main drivers of poverty, with less recognition of the wider historical and structural factors at play, including colonial legacies, global inequality, debt burdens and exploitation. This matters because how people understand the causes of poverty shapes how they think about responsibility, solidarity and the role Ireland should play in addressing it.
To further understand the Irish public’s perceptions of global poverty, Worldview strategic advisor and co-director of Development Engagement Labs, David Hudson, undertook new analysis of this survey question on perceptions of global poverty, examining the findings through seven key analytical lenses, which include:
What does the Irish public think are the main causes of poverty, and has that changed since 2020?
Do different groups of people give different answers?
Does what someone blames for poverty tell us how they feel about aid?
Are there different frames of thinking about why poverty exists?
Who holds these different frames?
Does the same person give the same answer a year later?
When someone changes their story about poverty, does their support for aid change too?
Explore all the findings and insights in the Irish Perceptions of Global Poverty booklet, downloadable through the link below.
Research Launch: Irish perceptions of global poverty & building narratives that strengthen public support for international development
Across Europe and beyond, we’re seeing the growing appeal of a narrative that says governments should focus on looking after their own, often at the expense of others. At a time when people are experiencing real economic pressures and uncertainty, many are choosing to frame solidarity as a choice between supporting people at home and supporting those facing poverty elsewhere But this is a false choice. The global challenges we face, from conflict and climate change to pandemics and economic instability, do not stop at national borders.
The challenge for all of us working in international development is how we communicate this more effectively. How do we build on the strong values that already underpin public support, while deepening understanding of the causes of poverty? And how do we make the case for international solidarity in ways that connect with people’s everyday concerns and demonstrate why cooperation matters to everyone? To help answer these questions, Ben Phillips, Director of the Public Good Narrative Project and Senior Advisor at the Global Cooperation Institute, shared his reflections at a launch event for this new analysis.
Ben’s work has highlighted how narratives help shape the space in which policy is imagined and debated by Governments and the public. If international cooperation is framed primarily as charity, it can too easily be portrayed as secondary to domestic priorities. But Ben’s work has shown that if we can tell a more compelling story about our shared challenges, shared interests and the value of collective action, we have an opportunity to make solidarity feel like a necessary response to the world we live in.
Watch Ben’s intervention at the research launch event through the video below: