A secondary concern for Britons
While Britons feel that inequality is a problem, it is not the most important compared to some other policy areas. When asked to rank public policy areas in order of importance, the relative score for 'reducing income inequality between the richest and poorest' places this fourth, behind 'investing more in health care', 'generating economic growth', and 'affordable housing'.
For the majority of the public, inequality is important but is somewhat a secondary concern. We have seen 'reducing income inequality between the richest and the poorest' rise in relative importance in the last year - potentially in response to the rising cost of living. Even more striking is the rise for ‘generating economic growth’ in the same period - now the second most important policy - suggesting that the rising cost of living directs some to pay more attention to the economy than inequality.
Our results have shown that the inequality between the "haves" and the "have nots" is a concern in Britain. A majority say there is division, that this is a problem, and that too little is being done about it:
However, when asked to prioritise policy areas such as health, the economy, and housing, for a long period in 2021, 'reducing income inequality between the richest and poorest' featured down the list of public priorities. When separately asked to select their three most important priorities for the UK government to tackle to improve public life in the UK, 'reduce income inequality between the richest and the poorest’ is also placed fourth.
This points to a disconnect between the prominence of inequality as an issue in Britain's society, and the importance that the public place on tackling it.
We've seen an increase in the relative importance of ‘reducing the cost of living for households' through 2022, though it still features behind investing more in health care, generating economic growth (which has seen an even greater increase in public importance), and affordable housing. It will be interesting to see if this rise in relative importance continues or whether it returns to previous levels.
This also raises a question about why there was (is) a disconnect between prominence and the importance of inequality. One possibility could be the broad and potentially abstract nature or definition of inequality, versus more concrete policy areas, such as health and housing. Reducing inequality could mean anything from equality of opportunity resulting from better schooling, right through to the abolition of capitalism.
The complexity and challenges of inequality means that many Britons may be unsure where they fit in, regarding efforts to tackle inequality; as well as how it fits in with their own belief system, and their views on the role that luck, effort, and circumstance play.
In contrast, the areas that people consistently rank as being the most important social policy priorities are focused and specific propositions, which people can see and feel the impact of in their lives. This also helps to explain why so many respondents select ‘don’t know’ when asked about the importance of tackling inequality – the concept is perhaps simply too far removed from their lives.
In short, framing inequality in abstract terms and without links to people’s everyday experiences does not animate the British public.
