The Guardian: Britannia thatcherilaisempi kuin 80-luvulla
Kyselytutkimuksen mukaan brittiläisten asenteet varallisuuden uudelleenjakoa kohtaan ovat koventuneet 80-luvulta. Tällöin vielä 51% tuki varallisuuden uudelleenjakoon tähtäävää politiikkaa, kun luku nyt viimeisimmän tutkimuksen mukaan on 31%.Tutkimuksen tekijät selittävät asenteiden muutokset "merkittävällä muutoksella poliittisessa retoriikassa". Samankaltainen ilmiö on havaittu myös Yhdysvalloista, jossa kasautuva varallisuus on vaikuttanut merkittävästi varakkaiden väestöryhmien poliittiseen vaikutusvaltaan.
Kuitenkin samanaikaisesti brittiläiset ovat huolissaan kasvavasta eriarvoisuudesta. 78% väestöstä on sitä mieltä, että ero rikkaiden ja köyhien välillä on liian suuri. Tutkijat antavat tälle seuraavanlaisen selityksen:
The Guardian 13.12.2010
Britain 'more Thatcherite now than in the 80s' says survey
British Social Attitude report finds people less supportive of the welfare state than in the 1980s
A survey of social attitudes has found that Britons are much less supportive of policies to redistribute wealth than in the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher was in power.
Britain is now more Thatcherite than when Margaret Thatcher was in power, with people much less supportive of the welfare state and the redistribution of wealth than in the 1980s, according to an authoritative study of the country's mood.
New Labour oversaw the biggest recorded shift to the right in public attitudes on those measures, despite a surge in concern about the scale of the wealth gap between rich and poor.
Sympathy towards benefit claimants has evaporated, along with support for redistributive tax and spend policies, over the past 20 years, with Labour governing during a period of significant hardening of attitudes towards the poor, the annual results of the British Social Attitudes survey reveal.
But public satisfaction with health and education improved dramatically over the same period, the study shows, leaving the researchers asking why Labour did not fight the election on its social policy record – and warning that the coalition is now risking a significant backlash against its reforms and cuts to public services that people are happy with.
Making profound reforms to the NHS or schools, when trust in politicians has reached an all-time low, risks considerable public resistance, the report concludes. The annual British Social Attitudes survey of more than 3,500 people, conducted by the National Centre for Social Research every year since 1983, this year offers a verdict on the 13 years of Labour rule.
Penny Young, chief executive of the National Centre for Social Research, said: "The survey points to a nation at political crossroads between left and right: it is perhaps little surprise that the election resulted in a coalition. On the one hand we are seeing a hardening of attitudes towards welfare reform, whilst on the other there is strong support for investment in health and education."
It finds that the public is now less sympathetic towards benefit claimants than at the end of the Thatcher era. In 1991, 58% thought the government should spend more on benefits. By 2009 that had more than halved to 27%.
Just over half (51%) backed policies to redistribute income from rich to poor in 1989, compared with 36% now. The researchers blamed the "significant change in political rhetoric" throughout the New Labour years, with the abandonment of Clause 4, the party's promise to redistribute wealth, and the emphasis in welfare policies on people going back to work. "This could be due to the reluctance of parties on the left to talk positively about redistribution, which has become synonymous with an 'Old Labour' 'tax and spend' approach," the report says.
But concern about inequality in wealth has simultaneously grown, with 78% of people now saying the income gap between rich and poor is too large. The report argues that the difference between high levels of concern about that income gap and support for policies to redistribute wealth is explained by "self-interest" on the part of higher earners who do not want to lose money from their pay packets to support others and a perception of "laziness" among poorer people.
Satisfaction with the NHS is at an all-time high. When Labour gained power in 1997, only a third of people (34%) were satisfied with the NHS, the lowest level since the survey began in 1983. By 2009, satisfaction had nearly doubled, and stood at two-thirds (64%). Reduced waiting times, after the introduction of targets, are a crucial factor in this.
In 1996, about a half (56%) thought schools taught basic skills well, rising to nearly three-quarters (73%) by 2008. But there is still deep concerns about the effectiveness of schools in preparing young people for work, with only half thinking schools do this well.
Trust in politicians has plummeted after the expenses scandal. Four in 10 "almost never" trust British governments to put the national interest first – about four times as high as during the 1980s.
Trust in bankers has fallen even more precipitously. In 1983, 90% believed banks were well run, and their reputation for being well managed was higher than many other institutions, including the police and the BBC. Now just 19% think banks are well run and their reputation for good management is far below that of either the press (39%) or trade unions (35%).
Young said: "Record levels of investment under Labour appear to have paid off in terms of public satisfaction – particularly on health, where satisfaction levels are now at all time high. The coalition will need to tread carefully to avoid a backlash against the potential impact of reform or failure to invest. In contrast, changing attitudes to welfare are in tune with the government, suggesting the public will back benefit reform.
"It is twenty years since Margaret Thatcher left office, but public opinion is far closer now to many of her core beliefs than it was then. Our findings show that attitudes have hardened over the last two decade, and are more in favour of cutting benefits and against taxing the better off disproportionately. But just as Blair and Brown incorporated key concepts of Thatcherism into New Labour's ideology, Britain today is sending a clear message to Cameron and Clegg that it values the investment Labour has made in this country's core public services."
Kuitenkin samanaikaisesti brittiläiset ovat huolissaan kasvavasta eriarvoisuudesta. 78% väestöstä on sitä mieltä, että ero rikkaiden ja köyhien välillä on liian suuri. Tutkijat antavat tälle seuraavanlaisen selityksen:
[...] the difference between high levels of concern about that income gap and support for policies to redistribute wealth is explained by "self-interest" on the part of higher earners who do not want to lose money from their pay packets to support others and a perception of "laziness" among poorer people.Tämänkaltainen näkemys on yhtenevä viimeaikaisten tutkimusten kanssa, joiden mukaan yhteiskunnallisten erojen kasvaessa toisistaan etääntyvien yhteiskuntaluokkien on yhä vaikeampaa asettua toisen asemaan. Tämä pätee etenkin hyvin toimeentuleviin. Tutkimukset jättävät myös hyvin vähän epäilyksenvaraa sille, etteikö kehitys asenneilmapiirissä seuraisi samaa kaavaa myös Suomessa tuloerojen jatkuvasti kasvaessa.
The Guardian 13.12.2010
Britain 'more Thatcherite now than in the 80s' says survey
British Social Attitude report finds people less supportive of the welfare state than in the 1980s
A survey of social attitudes has found that Britons are much less supportive of policies to redistribute wealth than in the 1980s when Margaret Thatcher was in power.
Britain is now more Thatcherite than when Margaret Thatcher was in power, with people much less supportive of the welfare state and the redistribution of wealth than in the 1980s, according to an authoritative study of the country's mood.
New Labour oversaw the biggest recorded shift to the right in public attitudes on those measures, despite a surge in concern about the scale of the wealth gap between rich and poor.
Sympathy towards benefit claimants has evaporated, along with support for redistributive tax and spend policies, over the past 20 years, with Labour governing during a period of significant hardening of attitudes towards the poor, the annual results of the British Social Attitudes survey reveal.
But public satisfaction with health and education improved dramatically over the same period, the study shows, leaving the researchers asking why Labour did not fight the election on its social policy record – and warning that the coalition is now risking a significant backlash against its reforms and cuts to public services that people are happy with.
Making profound reforms to the NHS or schools, when trust in politicians has reached an all-time low, risks considerable public resistance, the report concludes. The annual British Social Attitudes survey of more than 3,500 people, conducted by the National Centre for Social Research every year since 1983, this year offers a verdict on the 13 years of Labour rule.
Penny Young, chief executive of the National Centre for Social Research, said: "The survey points to a nation at political crossroads between left and right: it is perhaps little surprise that the election resulted in a coalition. On the one hand we are seeing a hardening of attitudes towards welfare reform, whilst on the other there is strong support for investment in health and education."
It finds that the public is now less sympathetic towards benefit claimants than at the end of the Thatcher era. In 1991, 58% thought the government should spend more on benefits. By 2009 that had more than halved to 27%.
Just over half (51%) backed policies to redistribute income from rich to poor in 1989, compared with 36% now. The researchers blamed the "significant change in political rhetoric" throughout the New Labour years, with the abandonment of Clause 4, the party's promise to redistribute wealth, and the emphasis in welfare policies on people going back to work. "This could be due to the reluctance of parties on the left to talk positively about redistribution, which has become synonymous with an 'Old Labour' 'tax and spend' approach," the report says.
But concern about inequality in wealth has simultaneously grown, with 78% of people now saying the income gap between rich and poor is too large. The report argues that the difference between high levels of concern about that income gap and support for policies to redistribute wealth is explained by "self-interest" on the part of higher earners who do not want to lose money from their pay packets to support others and a perception of "laziness" among poorer people.
Satisfaction with the NHS is at an all-time high. When Labour gained power in 1997, only a third of people (34%) were satisfied with the NHS, the lowest level since the survey began in 1983. By 2009, satisfaction had nearly doubled, and stood at two-thirds (64%). Reduced waiting times, after the introduction of targets, are a crucial factor in this.
In 1996, about a half (56%) thought schools taught basic skills well, rising to nearly three-quarters (73%) by 2008. But there is still deep concerns about the effectiveness of schools in preparing young people for work, with only half thinking schools do this well.
Trust in politicians has plummeted after the expenses scandal. Four in 10 "almost never" trust British governments to put the national interest first – about four times as high as during the 1980s.
Trust in bankers has fallen even more precipitously. In 1983, 90% believed banks were well run, and their reputation for being well managed was higher than many other institutions, including the police and the BBC. Now just 19% think banks are well run and their reputation for good management is far below that of either the press (39%) or trade unions (35%).
Young said: "Record levels of investment under Labour appear to have paid off in terms of public satisfaction – particularly on health, where satisfaction levels are now at all time high. The coalition will need to tread carefully to avoid a backlash against the potential impact of reform or failure to invest. In contrast, changing attitudes to welfare are in tune with the government, suggesting the public will back benefit reform.
"It is twenty years since Margaret Thatcher left office, but public opinion is far closer now to many of her core beliefs than it was then. Our findings show that attitudes have hardened over the last two decade, and are more in favour of cutting benefits and against taxing the better off disproportionately. But just as Blair and Brown incorporated key concepts of Thatcherism into New Labour's ideology, Britain today is sending a clear message to Cameron and Clegg that it values the investment Labour has made in this country's core public services."