An overwhelming majority of Americans believe poverty is a major problem in the United States these days, a new Rasmussen Reports survey finds.

The telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found that 80 percent think poverty is at least somewhat severe in the United States, with 29 percent of that group saying poverty is very severe.

Only 16 percent of those surveyed believe poverty is not severe in the nation, with 4 percent believing it is not at all severe.

The government has set the poverty line at an annual income of just over $23,000 a year for a family of four.

“When asked what the poverty line should be for a family of four, only 26 percent think the current poverty line is appropriate. Twenty-seven percent (27 percent) think it should be lower, including eight percent (8 percent) who say $9,000 or less and 19 percent who believe it should be set at $17,000,” Rasmussen Reports found.

“Thirty-eight percent (38 percent) believe the poverty line should be higher, with 23 percent who favor establishing it at $31,000 for a family of four and 15 percent who prefer $35,000.”

When it comes to politics, most Americans living in poverty are politically independent a separate poll finds.

Americans living in poverty are more likely than those who are not in poverty to identify themselves as political independents. In fact, 50 percent of those living in poverty considered themselves independent, while 15 percent identified themselves as Republicans and 32 percent as Democrats, a Gallup poll found.

Those in poverty are much less likely than are those who aren’t to identify as Republican and are slightly more likely to be Democratic, according to 2011 Gallup Daily tracking data.

“Although Americans in poverty apparently lean more toward the Democratic Party than the GOP and are more positive about [President Barack] Obama than are those who are not in poverty, some are Republicans and many are politically on the sidelines,” Gallup found.

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