The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) has published new research from its annual British Social Attitudes survey, charting key trends in public attitudes towards welfare, government spending, national identity and immigration
In relation to welfare, NatCen's research shows that Britain has softened dramatically in its attitudes towards welfare since 2015, reversing a trend towards tougher attitudes that persisted since the 1990s.
Among the BSA findings include:
- Dramatic softening of attitudes: The proportion of people who think benefits are too high and discourage work has fallen from 59% in 2015 to 35% today;
- For the first time since 2001, the proportion who think benefits are too low and cause hardship (36%) now equals the proportion who think benefits are too high;
- Concern about welfare ‘scroungers’ and ‘shirkers’ much less widespread now than half a decade ago: Just 15% of people agree with the idea that “people who receive social security don’t really deserve any help”, the lowest level ever recorded. The proportion who disagree grew from a third (33%) in 2015 to almost half (47%) today.
Gillian Prior, Director of Surveys, Data and Analysis at the National Centre for Social Research, said that:
“…the dramatic softening in attitudes towards welfare in recent years strongly suggests the public may prove sympathetic towards more generous welfare benefits for people who lose their jobs because of the pandemic – especially if there is a substantial increase in the level of unemployment.”
Significantly, the BSA survey was carried out before the coronavirus pandemic struck and the large increase in the numbers of people claiming social security benefits.
The BSA 2019 survey is available from bsa.natcen.ac.uk