British Class Division Widens Says NatCen Social Attitudes Report

Britain believes that class divide has widened after seven years of austerity measures, according to not-for-profit organisation NatCen's 33rd annual British Social Attitudes report.

The survey has been conducted since 1983, with each wave comprising more than 3,000 interviews with a representative, random sample of people in Britain. Latest results show that British people believe that the gulf between people of different classes has widened, and that it is harder today than in the past to move from one class to another. Most people (77%) think the class divide is fairly or very wide, while nearly three in four (73%) believe it is fairly or very difficult to move between classes today than it did ten years ago.

Public backing for more taxation and public spending is at its highest point (45%) for a decade, a majority are opposed to cuts to welfare, and 39% think that the government should spend more on welfare benefits for the poor - higher than at any time since 2003. Almost everyone (93%), thinks the NHS has a funding problem and 32% say this problem is severe - up from 19% in 2014. However, while 42% are willing to pay more through taxes, 26% say the NHS should live within its means.

Kirby Swales, Director of NatCen's Survey Centre, comments: 'A cohesive democracy should worry about a public that describes society as divided by class and says social mobility is decreasing, especially if the jobs of those at the bottom are getting worse while those of others get better or if the public is gradually losing faith in the electoral system. We must think about how we can find consensus on a way forward for the health service and the welfare state. Because with austerity expected to continue until at least 2020 these small steps might well add up to a leap.'

The full report can be read at: www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk .s launched in the US, where it will provide CPG and retail clients with product and brand image content via digital means.

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Josh Goldman (pictured), SVP, Digital Retail Practice, Nielsen, comments: 'We are excited to expand this best-in-class capability from other parts of the world into the US, and couldn't be more thrilled to be included in Walmart's content service provider ecosystem. We look forward to offering this service to other Nielsen clients so they can benefit from the elevated data quality and completeness that Brandbank brings to the market.'

Web sites: www.nielsen.com and www.brandbank.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.