Britons' understanding of which demographics are impacted
When asked about the extent to which different groups are left behind in the UK today, Britons rank ‘those on low incomes’ and 'the elderly' highest, followed by 'people living in areas that need regeneration' and 'disabled people'. This perhaps reflects the very practical understanding Britons have of inequality and what it means to be left behind, ascribing it to those who are most visibly economically insecure.
Few Britons consider 'ethnic minorities', ‘migrants, refugees and asylum seekers’, ‘lesbian, gay, and bisexual people’ and 'transgender people' to be the most left-behind groups in Britain today. They are the only groups where a majority do not see them as left behind to either ‘a great extent’ or to ‘some extent’, with the highest scores for ‘not very much’ and ‘not at all’ left behind.
Young people are an exception here. Although the strength of sentiment in the older age groups shapes the overall results, younger cohorts are far more likely to rank these minority groups higher and say they are left behind. For example, 62 per cent of the 18-24 group rank ‘migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers’ as left behind to 'some' or 'a great extent', compared to only 36 per cent of the rest of the population.
There are also interesting, and perhaps predictable, generational dynamics on the question of who is most affected by inequality in Britain today. While 28 per cent of those under 35 say the young are left behind to ‘a great extent’, only 14 per cent of the rest of the population do. These results are reversed for older age groups. While all cohorts under 55 rank ‘those on low incomes’ as the most left behind, those over 55 instead say it is 'the elderly'.
