It examines whether different explanations can be attributed to certain socio-economic characteristics and political ideology. The data derive from a survey conducted in Finland in 2008. The results indicate that causal beliefs are more complex than has been assumed in the mainstream research on attributions for poverty. The public shares distinctive causal beliefs when it comes to the different categories of the poor. When moving from the retired to families with children and to immigrants, support for explanations which blame the individual increases and support for explanations which blame structural conditions decreases. Applied multivariate analysis indicates that attributions for the causes of poverty are to some extent related to socio-economic characteristics and political ideology.