This paper seeks to connect the literature on preferences for redistribution to the literature on

(unequal) policy responsiveness to public opinions. Based on an original survey conducted in

2019 that repeated policy-specific questions asked in the European Social Survey of 2008, we

contest the conventional view that support for redistribution has been basically stable over

time. Across the twelve West European countries encompassed by our data, support for progressive

taxation and support for egalitarian unemployment benefits increased sharply from

2008 to 2019. While support for “taxing the rich” increased among all income groups, support

for more egalitarian unemployment benefits increased among low- and middle-income

citizens, but not among affluent citizens. In a second step, we explore the extent to which

government policies have changed in response to shifts in public opinion. Very tentatively, this

analysis suggest that government policy has been more responsive in the domain of income

taxation than in the domain of unemployment compensation.