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British Social Attitudes Revealed
The 22nd annual British Social Attitudes survey shows that government policies are in tune with public attitudes towards health, education and savings - but that reducing car use will be an uphill struggle. The survey, conducted by social research organisation NatCen and funded by charities and government, was released this week.
The British Social Attitudes survey has been conducted annually since 1983. Each survey consists of more than 3,000 interviews with a representative, random sample of people in Britain. This year's survey is entitled Two terms of New Labour: the public's reaction, and focuses on attitudes towards health, education, pensions, transport, work-life balance, redistribution and housing. Findings are summarised below.
The health service
The government has caught the public mood by focusing on the NHS, but public expectations are higher than the government's targets.
The promise of more patient choice strikes a chord with the public: 63% think patients should have 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' of choice over which hospital they go to for treatment, and only 9% think they already do so.
The public recognises some improvements to the NHS: in 2002, 41% thought hospital waiting lists for non-emergency operations were in need of 'a lot' of improvement, while just 29% now take this view. Although 76% think that improvements are needed in waiting times at Accident and Emergency departments, this is the lowest proportion since 1998.
Pensions and savings
There is overwhelming support for the idea of personal saving, but many people feel unable to put money aside for retirement.
39% of those who haven't retired have no form of pension provision above that offered by the state pension. 50% of people say they can't afford to save for retirement at the moment - rising to 72% of those with no private pension provision. Those with no private provision are more likely to be young, female, unemployed, have no qualifications, or be on a low income.
73% think more public money should be spent on pensions - making pensions one of the most popular targets for extra spending. But this is not straightforward: support for increased spending is (perhaps predictably) strongest amongst those who will benefit from it, and lowest among those who would pay the taxes.
Transport
Most people want to cut the number of cars on Britain's roads, with 72% saying they want to reduce congestion, especially in urban areas. But attempts to change car use by increasing the costs of motoring would prove unpopular.
Just 6% would support a doubling of petrol prices over the next ten years, and only 12% agree that car users should pay higher taxes for the sake of the environment (down from 20% in 1997). Congestion charging is less unpopular than extra taxes or petrol price hikes, with 28% supporting the idea of a £2 peak-time charge to drive through towns outside London.
Education
The working class are more supportive than the middle class of increasing opportunities for higher education (45% and 28% respectively want increased opportunities). 24% of middle class (9% of working class) respondents want to see fewer opportunities for entry into higher education.
The proportion who think 16 -year-olds should automatically study for A-levels is down from 53% in 1995 to 42% now. 25% think that vocational qualifications or training in a job would be best.
77% think all or some students should pay university tuition fees. There are no social class differences on this matter. 65% think fees should be the same across institutions.
Work-life balance
Balancing work and family life is an important issue for many employees: 22% say it is the most important consideration when making career choices, while 21% say it is the next most important priority. However, 52% say they have so many things to do at work that they run out of time before getting them done, and 54% regularly experience tiredness at home as a result of their job.
Two terms of New Labour: the public's reaction is edited by Alison Park, John Curtice, Katarina Thomson, Catherine Bromley, Miranda Phillips and Mark Johnson, and published by Sage (www.sagepub.co.uk ). NatCen is online at www.natcen.ac.uk
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