Washington: So much for compassionate conservatism.

More than three-quarters of conservative Americans – those in the steadfast conservative, business conservative and young outsider-type groups – agree that "poor people have it easy because they can get government benefits without doing anything," according to the US Pew Research Centre. Only 7 per cent of conservatives say that the poor "have hard lives".

Scrooge-worthy: A majority of US conservatives say the poor 'have it easy'. Credit:Greg Bakes

Even a not-insignificant share of left-leaning groups say the poor have it easy. But overall the widespread agreements among conservatives on this point is what's really striking. There are reasonable, well-intentioned arguments on either side of many poverty-related issues – about the causes of poverty or whether government benefits provide a leg-up or simply perpetuate poverty, for instance.

But I have a hard time understanding how you could read about the experience of families relying on food stamps to eat, or those trying to manage chronic conditions with Medicaid, and conclude that these people somehow have it easy.