Are perceptions of economic inequality conducive for support for redistribution? In this paper, I examine this question by turning towards perceptions of the economic distance to other economic groups and its consequences for support for redistribution that gives to the poor. I conduct a nationally representative survey experiment with British voters to test the argument that perceiving a smaller economic distance to the poor relative to the rich decreases support for redistribution that gives-to-the-poor. Specifically, I argue that self-perceived middle who perceive the economic distance to the poor as small have a fear of social decline and an aversion to fall to the bottom of the income hierarchy, with concomitant consequences for their support for giving-to-the-poor. I find that self-perceived middle-income voters who perceive a smaller economic distance to the poor become less supportive of redistribution that gives to the poor. Using data on perceptions of income distances in a large sample of countries, my observational analysis further demonstrates that self-perceived middle-income voters hold more positive attitudes toward giving-to-the-poor when they perceive a large income distance to the poor, thus supporting the status-anxiety explanation. These findings add knowledge to the puzzle why people do not respond to increasing inequality by wanting more redistribution: they do so because of distorted perceptions of the economic distance to the poor that hampers support for more redistribution.