What the country thinks

Main findings from our research on inequality and the rising cost of living

Since June 2021, Kantar Public and More in Common have been exploring public attitudes to fairness in society and the rising cost of living

Britons believe that we are an unequal society. Large majorities agree that there is a division between the "haves" and "have-nots", that this gap is a problem, and that the Government is not doing enough to tackle it.

Attitudes to inequality do not divide along party lines. There are few significant differences between Leave & Remain and Labour & Conservative voters in their perceptions of inequality, or how to tackle it.

Britons believe that the elderly and those on low incomes are the most left-behind groups in the UK today. Few consider ethnic minorities, ‘migrants, refugees and asylum seekers’, ‘gay, lesbian and bisexual people’, 'transgender people', and 'the young' to be left behind groups.

However, despite broad agreement that inequality is a problem, it is not the top priority for most Britons, though its prominence in public policy priorities has risen through 2022.

In part, this is because inequality in of itself is an abstract concept. Our research finds people are more likely to prioritise action in areas where they can see and feel the impact in their everyday lives. For example, a concrete proposal such as ‘reversing the £20 cut to Universal Credit’ elicits much greater agreement than the more abstract ‘increase social benefits’. Similarly, people are significantly more likely to say the Government should take action to ‘tackle the rising cost of living’ than to ‘reduce inequality’.

Cost of living is a dominant concern. Almost two-thirds of Britons (64 per cent) say too little is being done to help people cope with the rising cost of living, compared to one fifth (21 per cent) who say ‘about the right amount’. This figure has fallen since May, suggesting Government interventions on the cost of living have had some impact on public attitudes.
Given a head-to-head choice, cost of living is ranked as a greater priority for the Government than every other policy. This has changed significantly since the start of our tracker, when several other issues were seen as more important.
The rise in the cost of living is not affecting the population evenly. Fifteen per cent of people say they have not had to make personal lifestyle changes in response to rising cost of living, including three in ten (30 per cent) of those over 65. Perhaps, as a result, people in these age groups are more likely to prioritise other policy areas, particularly improving social care.
Young people aged 18-24, the adult members of Gen Z, are the most likely of any age group to say inequality is not important. These slightly counter-intuitive findings merit further investigation in future tracking polls and focus groups.

The more tangible the framing of inequality is for Britons, and the more they can relate it to their everyday lives, the easier it will be to build a consensus on the nature of inequality in Britain, and how best to tackle it. These are issues that More in Common and Kantar Public will continue to explore.