Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD

The British Social Attitudes Survey is Britain's longest running annual statistical survey, conducted by the highly respected National Centre for Social Research since 1983.

New results show Britain has become MORE liberal, but more divided too.

bsa.natcen.ac.uk

The most pressing issue is of course the #CostOfLivingCrises that threatens a severe drop in living standards, especially for the less well off, compounded by the announcements in what has been dubbed the #KamiKwasi "mini-budget', set to dramatically increase inequality.

Other issues facing Britain include our underfunded #NHS still recovering from the pandemic; the integrity of the Union is under threat; significant regional disparities in economic & social wellbeing; & deep political division over a Brexit - part of a polarising ‘culture war’.

A summer of unprecedented heat reminds us that climate change poses an existential threat to the whole world. Taken together, these issues suggest a divided & buffeted country at risk of being labelled ‘Broken Britain’, headed by a deeply unpopular & ideologically extreme Govt.

The latest survey was conducted at the end of 2021.

So what do British people think?

52% say they are in favour of increasing taxes to spend more on health, education and social benefits, similar to the 53% who said this in 2019, shortly before the pandemic.

There's a small difference between Tory (46%) & Labour supporters (61%) in their level of support for more government spending.

Growing numbers of people think that Britain is unequal, & there is increased support for redistribution to the less well-off has been maintained.

Two-thirds (67%) agree that ordinary working people do not get their fair share of the nation’s wealth, up ten percentage points since 2019.

49% now agree that the government should redistribute income to the less well off.

The public has remained relatively pro-welfare. There were signs, pre-pandemic, that public opinion had become more pro-welfare than it had been during New Labour’s tenure in office.

This more pro-welfare stance was sustained during the pandemic.

During 2020-21, an average of 40% disagreed that most people on the dole were fiddling it one way or another, compared with just 24% who agreed. Before 2014 more people agreed than disagreed with this statement.

Rather than agreeing with the proposition, by 2019, the public were evenly divided on whether people would stand on their own two feet if welfare benefits weren’t so generous. Opinion remained evenly balanced in 2021; 39% agreed with this statement while 38% disagreed.

Conservative and Labour supporters have drawn apart from each other in their attitudes towards how the UK should be governed. Equally, Conservative and SNP supporters are now further apart in Scotland, as are DUP and Sinn Féin identifiers in Northern Ireland.

In 2011 24% of Conservative supporters in England said that Scotland should become independent, as did 25% of Labour supporters. Now only 16% of Conservatives express that view, compared with 30% of their Labour counterparts.

A majority of opposition party supporters now favour changing the electoral system.

Support for introducing proportional representation in general elections is at its highest level since the survey began, mainly as a result of an increase in support among Labour supporters.

Around half of the public (51%) are now in favour of introducing proportional representation for Westminster elections, up from 27% in 2011 immediately following the alternative vote referendum.

For the first time a majority of Labour supporters (61%) are in favour of electing MPs using proportional representation (PR). At the time of the alternative vote referendum in 2011 only 27% held that view, & 69% of LibDem supporters are in favour of PR, up from 46% in 2011.

It seems Brexit may have changed attitudes: 73% of pro-European Labour supporters back a change to PR, compared with 52% of Labour Eurosceptics.

Conservative party supporters remain in favour of the status quo – only 29% support changing the system.

There is increased support in Scotland for Scottish independence & in Northern Ireland for Irish reunification. Just over half of people in Scotland (52%) favour independence, up from 23% in 2012, when the UK Govt agreed to the independence referendum held two years later.

Only one in four (25%) of people in England think that Scotland should be independent, unchanged from 2012.

65% of Remainers in Scotland now back Scottish independence, up from 44% in 2016.

Support in NI for Irish reunification has increased from 14% in 2015 to 30% now. In 2016, 64% of people in NI who voted Remain were in favour of being part of the UK. Now only 37% are.

But those in Britain who support Irish unification has fallen from 52% in 1998, to 41% now.

‘Culture war’ issues have become prominent in the media and in political debate, reflecting disagreement in particular about the portrayal of Britain’s colonial past & what should be done to recognise the identity & economic position of minority groups.

Attitudes towards these issues are thought to align with people’s attitudes towards Brexit &, consequently, the ‘culture war’ could perpetuate the division between Remainers & Leavers that was a prominent feature of the 2019 election.

Despite what we read & here in the media, public opinion has actually become more liberal on ‘culture war’ issues.

Attitudes towards Britain and Britishness have become more inclusive, & more people now say
that equal opportunities for minority groups have not gone far enough.

Only 17% now say that it is very important for being truly British that someone has been born in Britain, down from 48% in 1995.

In 1995 52% agreed that Britain is better than most other countries; now only 34% take that view.

45% say that equal opportunities for Black & Asian people have not got far enough, up from 25% in 2000.

Whether someone has a libertarian* (socially liberal) or authoritarian outlook (socially conservative) is strongly associated with where they stand on ‘culture war’ issues.

*It should be noted that 'libertarian' in this context refers to social attitudes, & should not be confused with what many now call 'economic libertarians', who prefer low taxes & deregulation, & tend to be anti-welfare, anti-intervention in social issues & socially conservative.

Two thirds of social conservatives say they feel very strongly British & believe you have to have been born in Britain to be truly British, compared with approximately one in five liberals.

79% of liberals believe migrants have a positive impact on the country’s culture. Only 25% of social conservatives do.

Only 27% of social conservatives believe that giving opportunities to Black & Asian people has not gone far enough. 71% of liberals agree with this sentiment.

People’s attitudes towards Brexit are strongly related to their attitudes towards issues of identity, immigration & equal opportunities.

Twice as many Leavers (66%) as Remainers (31%) consider themselves to be very strongly British.

Similarly, 65% of Leavers believe that being born in Britain is important to be truly British, compared with 34% of Remainers.

Only 22% of Leavers, but as many as 65% of Remainers, believe that migrants enrich Britain’s cultural life.

Three in five (60%) Remainers think that equal opportunities for Black and Asian people in Britain have not gone far enough, while only around a quarter (23%) of Leavers express that view.

The Brexit referendum & the Government’s subsequent 'levelling up' agenda highlighted significant economic & demographic differences between England’s regions.

Despite people in the South tending to be better off, there is little evidence of differences in economic values.

61% people in the North can be classified as left-wing (tending to believe that economic resources are unequally distributed and favouring their redistribution to the less well-off), compared with 56% in the South.

Just 37% of people in the North can be classified as pro-welfare (believing that the state should offer a safety net for those in need), compared with 35% in the South.

The lack of a north-south gap in economic values contrasts with earlier analysis of BSA data which found people in the North to be more left-wing & more pro-welfare.

London is now more pro-welfare & liberal than the rest of England.

People living in London are more likely to be pro-welfare & pro-liberal, even after taking account of the fact that the capital’s population is younger, better educated & more cosmopolitan, compared with other regions.

47% of Londoners are classified as pro-welfare, compared with 30%-37% in other English regions.

34% of Londoners are classified as liberal (supporting the right to individual freedom over conformity to common rules & practices), compared with 20% in the South & 17% in the North.

47% of 18-34 year olds in London can be classed as liberal, compared with 30% of this age group in the rest of the country.

19% of people living in urban areas outside London can be classified as liberal (compared with 34% in London).

Labour are likely to continue to dominate London, but may be vulnerable in the North. People who are left-wing, pro-welfare & liberal are more likely to support @UKLabour, while people who are right-wing, anti-welfare & authoritarian are more likely to support the @Conservatives.

43% of people classed as left-wing & 52% classed as liberal identify with Labour. Only 20% classed as left-wing & 8% classed as liberal identify with the Tories.

40% of Londoners (more likely to be liberal) are Labour Party identifiers compared with 33% in England as whole.

37% in the North identify with the Labour Party, compared with 26% in the South, likely reflecting past differences in values. The present lack of a north-south gap in economic values may provide an opportunity for the Conservatives to make headway in previous Labour strongholds.

Attitudes to the environment have shifted in recent years.

The proportion who believes that climate change is the most important environmental problem for Britain increased from 19% to 45% between 2010 and 2021.

People are more concerned about the environment than they were a decade ago and it is viewed by more people as a political priority.

40% are very concerned about the environment, almost double the proportion who reported this in 2010 (22%).

The proportion who considers the environment to be one of the two most important issues facing Britain increased from 8% in 2010 to 21% now.

Only health care, the economy and education are viewed by more people as being among the two most important issues facing Britain.

While climate change has become the dominant environmental issue. it is certainly not the only one.

45% view climate change as the most important environmental issue, up from 19% in 2010.

A majority (60%) believe that the world’s climate has been changing mostly due to human activity.

Just 6% say the climate has not been changing or that it has been changing mostly due to natural processes.

64% see a rise in the world’s temperature caused by climate change as extremely or very dangerous – comparable to the proportions that see air pollution caused by industry (62%) or pollution of Britain’s rivers, lakes and streams (62%) as dangerous.

The majority of people are willing to pay to protect the environment, but consensus on the best approach is lacking: 57% are willing to pay either through higher prices, higher taxes, or by a change in their standard of living, while 18% are unwilling to pay in any of these ways.

The most commonly suggested route for getting business and industry to pay for the protection of the environment is with heavy fines for polluters (38%), while, for individuals and families, there is most support for information and education (42%).

Disabled people make up one in five of the working-age population, but are less likely to be in employment than non-disabled people. Public attitudes, & the willingness or otherwise of employers & employees to welcome disabled people in the workplace, may be an important barrier.

The public generally favours giving disabled people an equal chance in workplaces but wouldn't necessarily be willing to have a disabled person as a colleague or their boss. This may be tied to the perception that disabled people may not do as good a job as a non-disabled person.

49% think attempts to give people with physical impairments an equal chance in the workplace have not gone far enough.

69% of the public would be comfortable having someone with a visual impairment as a colleague while 67% would be comfortable having them as a boss.

41% think that in most workplaces people with a visual impairment are thought of as doing as good a job as anybody else most of the time.

People are particularly likely to hold negative attitudes towards workers with mental health conditions.

Attitudes towards people with mental health conditions, especially people with more severe and less common mental health conditions, tend to be more negative than attitudes towards people with physical impairments.

55% would be comfortable having someone with depression as a colleague and 39% would be happy having a colleague with schizophrenia.

In contrast, 71% would be comfortable having someone with a mobility impairment as a colleague.

Whereas 72% would be happy having someone with a mobility impairment as their boss, only 46% would be happy having someone with depression as their boss.

Although people with personal experience of disability hold more positive attitudes towards disabled workers

Around one in four people say that in most workplaces people with depression (23%) and people with schizophrenia (26%) are hardly ever or never thought of as doing just as good a job as anyone else.

People who have personal experience of disability, or who know someone who is disabled, would be more willing to work with disabled people. Experience of mental health conditions has a particularly strong positive impact on attitudes towards workers with mental health conditions.

78% of people with a physical impairment and 72% who know someone with a physical impairment would be comfortable with a boss who had a visual impairment. This falls to 61% of people who know no one with a physical impairment.

74% of people with a mental health condition would be comfortable having someone with depression as their boss. This compares with 46% of those who know someone with a mental health condition and only 26% of those who do not know anyone with a mental health condition.

What impact has the #COVID19 pandemic had on
satisfaction with the #NHS & social care?

There has been a dramatic decline in satisfaction with the NHS, with satisfaction falling to 36%, a 17 percentage point drop since 2020, now standing 24 points lower than before the pandemic.

Dissatisfaction has increased, from 25% in 2020 to 41% now.

More people are dissatisfied with the #NHS than satisfied, for the first time since 2002.

Waiting times in particular have risen in prominence as a driver of dissatisfaction.

The most popular explanation for being dissatisfied with the #NHS is that it takes too long to get a GP or hospital appointment, selected by 65% when asked to choose up to three reasons.

The proportion selecting this reason has risen by 8 percentage points since 2019.

The second most common reason for dissatisfaction is that there are not enough #NHS staff, selected by 46%, although this is down 16 points since 2019 when it was the most popular reason.

Satisfaction has declined across a range of NHS services.

Satisfaction with GP services has declined by 30 points since 2019 (to 38%), while satisfaction with #NHS dentists has declined by 27 points (to 33%).

Just 15% are satisfied with social care.

There was a rise in dissatisfaction with GPs to 42% – the highest level for this service since the BSA survey began. Half of people (50%) are dissatisfied with social care, the highest level for any of the services asked about.

Despite these rises in dissatisfaction, there is still widespread support for the principles that underpin the #NHS, although levels of support are lower among those who are dissatisfied, compared with those who are satisfied, with the way the NHS is run.

76% think the #NHS should definitely be free of charge when you need it and 67% believe it should definitely be available to everyone.

54% think the NHS should definitely be primarily funded through taxes.

People who are dissatisfied with how the #NHS is run are less likely to endorse these principles.

63% of those who are dissatisfied think the NHS should definitely be available to everyone, compared with 75% of those who are satisfied.

The final part of the survey finds that more people in Scotland are concerned about health and social justice than people are in England.

64% of people in Scotland say it is unfair that wealthier people can afford better health care – compared with 54% in England.

60% of people in Scotland say that poverty is a major cause of poor health – compared with 51% in England.

People in Scotland are more confident of getting the treatment they need – but express similar levels of confidence in the #NHS overall.

63% of people living in Scotland are confident of receiving the best treatment available if they became seriously ill – compared with 56% in England.

37% in Scotland have ‘a great deal’ or ‘complete’ confidence in the health care system – as do 36% in England.

8% in England claim they did not get the medical treatment they needed during the past 12 months because they could not pay for it – compared with just 5% in Scotland.

People in Scotland are more likely than in England to support higher taxes to improve health services – although 49% of people in both Scotland & England feel that non-UK citizens should not have access to publicly funded health care.

55% of people in Scotland say they would be willing to pay higher taxes to improve the level of health care for everyone in Scotland, compared with 51% in England.

People in Scotland are also more supportive of public health restrictions in a pandemic.

66% of people living in Scotland say the government should have the right to require people to wear face masks in severe epidemics – compared with 60% in England.

46% of people in Scotland say government should have the right to shut down places of employment and close schools in severe epidemics – compared with 41% in England.

And finally, 37% of people in Scotland say confidence in government has increased due to the Scottish government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Only 20% of people in England say this about the Westminster government’s handling of the pandemic.