An overwhelming majority of people do not think they could live on £53 a week - but rich people are more likely than poor people to believe it is possible.
A survey conducted by YouGov found that 70% of those asked did not think they could survive on just £53 a week compared to 24% who did (5% did not know).
Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith sparked an outcry earlier this week when he said he could get by on that amount of money. "If I had to I would," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
In the wake of the comment, more than 200,000 people signed a petition on the change.org website, calling for the minister to try surviving on that money for a year.
According to YouGov most people do not share the cabinet minister's confidence that they could get by. But the poll showed that the rich were more likely to think they could than the less well off.
Only 20% of people earning under £20,000 a year believed they could survive on £53 a week. But 34% of those earning £70,000 or more thought they could.
The results also displayed a partisan split, with 38% of Tory voters saying they could do it compared to 55% of said they could not.
By contrast only 15% of Labour voters thought it possible, compared to 82% of those who thought it was not.
And just 28% of Lib Dem voters told YouGov they could live on £53 a week compared to 67% who said they could not.