NatCen British Social Attitudes Survey 2019

Every year since 1983, social research company NatCen has surveyed over 3,000 people about life in Britain and their views on how the country is being run. The results for the latest survey, British Social Attitudes Survey 36 (BSA36), conducted in 2018, have been published.

Key findings from the BSA36 report are as follows:

• Britain is becoming more secular, with 52 per cent now saying they do not belong to any religion and two-thirds saying they never ordinarily attend religious services
• Trust in science and scientists is high: 85 per cent trust university scientists to “do their work with the intention of benefitting the public” (67 per cent believe the same of private sector scientists). 77 per cent believe that science and technology is making life better
• 65 per cent of people think that there is “quite a lot” of poverty in Britain, while 62 per cent believe poverty has risen over the past decade and 61% expect poverty to worsen over the next decade. There are some significant divergencies in views on poverty between Labour and Conservative supporters

The survey provides a fascinating insight into the social and political attitudes of British people and how views have changed over time. NatCen also discusses possible explanations of the trends