Pass the buck on poverty

Wow, I received the Barna Update this week on the topic of Helping the Poor, here http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=273. Let me note a few items from that article.

• 72% consider poverty to be one of the most serious social problems facing the United States today, yet...
• 64% consider it to be the government's responsibility, and...
• only 18% consider it to be an individual responsibility, and...
• only 4% consider it to be the church's responsibility.

A few comments or observations:

Why do many 'pass the buck' to the government?

It appears that the government has taken away a responsibility which was largely the church's before. With factors like this, is there any wonder why churches have less and less influence?