Heartless Britain - will attitudes ever change?

There are more good people in the UK than there are good surveys.

Pantglas, “there are more good people in the UK than there are good surveys”.
Well said.

Unfortunately Pantglas they are probably all reading the surveys and giving up under the weight of the doom...

In seriousness, it's hard to change the tide. Especially when research like the above (sorry Dinahmo, I don't know your source so not a critique of you) is released by the press with little understanding or interpretation of what it actually means or how it can be used to motivate positive change. It just all feels too overwhelming for most of us.

When was the survey done. Was it done with people specifically talking about the current situation? Or was it done as a general attitude study, where the current specificc conditions were not part of the survey. Are they talking about individual job losses or were mass job losses as the result of companies going bankrupt taken in to consideration.

I would need to to know much, much more about the background and details of this survey before I offered an opinion.

TBH I don’t take an awful lot of notice notice of surveys.
All too often it seems that the questions are skewed in order to produce the answers preferred by whatever their agenda is.

I particularly remember one from my local council, asking among other things,
Would you prefer us to cut a) children’s services, b) old people’s services, or c) libraries?

This at a time when our council leader was bent on closing most of the libraries, since he considered that books were obsolete and everyone would be reading everything on screens. Plus he wanted to spend a vast amount of council money on a pet project which was in no way essential.

Must say I was delighted when he was later banged up for some particularly sordid goings-on.

Surveys have proved totally wrong far too often for any meaning to be attached to them, wherever they come from. The wild balance on these figures prove my point.

Too many set out with an agenda and make the statistics fit, but the vast majority of people are kind and caring and there are a few out and out scoundrels who get all the publicity.

Sounds like one of those ivory tower surveys that means absolutely nothing. Probably just surveyed a few students and privileged people but I am surprised a place like Kings College would put its name to it. There is a lot of inequality though and it has always been the case. I think it is more noticeable in certain areas of the UK than it is here.

Although surveys have to be read in the context of who commissioned them, a quick glance at some FB pages will confirm the 'heartless' claim. So many people seem to think that poverty is self inflicted, as if it was a lifestyle choice. You don't have to go far to read the 'if you can't feed them, don't breed them' comments, there have been some on GN in the past.

In the 80s my OH was made redundant three times in one year. First time they let go the older, higher paid staff (and went under not long after) then a case of last in first out. A senior kept hassling me as to whether my OH was doing enough to find a new job and even expressed surprise when we bumped into her in a supermarket. Strangely we all still needed to eat.

It turned out she was terrified that her OH would be made redundant (which he was) and she fell apart totally. We never know what motivates others.

* senior colleague.

When will be considered grown up enough to edit our own posts. So frustrating!

The survey was conducted by Kings College during the pandemic.

www.theguardian.com/inequality/2021/feb/25/job-losses-in-pandemic-due-to-performance-issues-say-nearly-half-of-britons

(Going to look for the small print.)

Here's the full report, if you're interested:

www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/unequal-britain.pdf

You've only to look at the state pension to realise that it's never been increased to a level of the rising costs of everything since the 80's.

Thank you Growstuff for posting the links.

I had thought that the mention of Kings College would be sufficient. For those who don't want to read the report, it was written by Kings College Policy Institute in conjunction with the Institute for Fiscal Studies and UK in a Changing World. Pretty good credentials I would have thought.

EllanVannin

You've only to look at the state pension to realise that it's never been increased to a level of the rising costs of everything since the 80's.

Actually, the state pension has increased more than working age benefits have.

Dinahmo I haven't read all 88 pages of it, but I've skimmed through it. Quite honestly, some of the attitudes don't surprise me (unfortunately).

I’ve never , ever been asked to participate in a Survey, if I am then I will read the results with interest, until then I can’t get that worked up about them.
Just how do they pick the people to do them?

I do find that most surveys that I take part in don’t ask the questions in a way that I can give my true opinions.
There may be a question for example that goes:
Which of the following.....?I’m supposed to choose one option but I, actually, think that three are equally valuable.
I don’t think that most of them don’t give the whole story.

I'm quite amazed actually at the response that this can't be right because its only a survey and its probably biased. That's something society should be bothered about . The inability to discriminate between propaganda and academic research.

Nowhere near enough to halt all the " add-ons " that people have to claim in order to live growstuff. If a nominal state pension was paid, there'd be no need for the millions overspent on the various claims.

Oopsadaisy1

I’ve never , ever been asked to participate in a Survey, if I am then I will read the results with interest, until then I can’t get that worked up about them.
Just how do they pick the people to do them?

I was randomly picked from the electoral register to do an ONS survey, for the govt so it was a bit like Jury Service , you could put it off but sooner or later you'd be obliged to do it as a 'civic obligation'.

It took five years - they would phone or visit every quarter and ask me the same questions every time to see if my answers and changed. It would take about an hour each time and became a complete PITA.

At the end of it I got a cheque for £15 for doing it (which I didn't know I would!) So if anyone wants any of their tax payers share back, I'm happy to split it! ?

I find it's better for my health to concentrate on good or helpful things I can do rather than worry about this survey or that.

*had

EllanVannin

Nowhere near enough to halt all the " add-ons " that people have to claim in order to live growstuff. If a nominal state pension was paid, there'd be no need for the millions overspent on the various claims.

It's still a fact that pensioner age benefits have increased more than working age benefits.