Abstract
AbstractIf public attitudes towards the welfare state, inequality and immigration are becoming increasingly polarized, as recent political events might suggest, the space for progressive social policies is more constrained. Using data from the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) spanning 23years, we analyse trends in these attitudes, examining whether there has been divergence between those who have been more and less exposed to disadvantage through changes in the economy and the welfare state across more than two decades. Taken in this longer term context, and examining characteristics not previously considered in relation to public attitudes such as lone parenthood and disability, we find little evidence of polarization in attitudes to welfare, inequality and immigration and even some evidence of attitudinal gaps narrowing. We conclude that given this lack of division, there may be greater room for more pro‐welfare and progressive policies than the prevalent narrative of polarization suggests.
Highlights
We live in a society with increasingly polarized public attitudes – or so recent political events would suggest
Instead, taking the long view of trends in public attitudes and examining a range of potential socio-demographic stratifications, we argue that even in countries like Britain which have experienced high levels of inequality, harsh austerity and significant immigration, there is a window of opportunity to capitalize on the space for more progressive policymaking
To investigate further the extent of polarization in public attitudes and the degree to which this is associated with the experience of being “left behind”, we focus on characteristics that define groups who lost out in Britain during the economic recession and austerity that followed the financial crisis in 2008 and those who might be most exposed to any adverse effect of immigration on wages
Summary
We live in a society with increasingly polarized public attitudes – or so recent political events would suggest. To investigate further the extent of polarization in public attitudes and the degree to which this is associated with the experience of being “left behind”, we focus on characteristics that define groups who lost out in Britain during the economic recession and austerity that followed the financial crisis in 2008 and those who might be most exposed to any adverse effect of immigration on wages The former includes young adults, disabled people and families with (young) children, especially lone parents (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2018; Hills, Cunliffe, Obolenskaya, & Karagiannaki, 2015; Lupton, Burchardt, Hills, Stewart, & Vizard, 2016). These are plotted for visual inspection, and the underlying interaction coefficients (shown in Appendix 3 in Data S1 and reported in the text) are assessed for statistical significance
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