Skip to content
IEA InfoIEA Info
  • About Us
    • Who we are
      • Staff
      • Trustees
      • Advisory Council
      • Academic Advisory Council
      • Fellows
      • Nobel Prize Winning Economists
      • IEA Award Winners
    • What We Do
    • FAQs
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
      • Jobs
  • Insider
  • Research
    • Publications
    • Economic Affairs
    • EA Magazine
    • Shadow Monetary Policy Committee
    • Peer Review Protocol
  • Blog
  • Media
    • Press Releases
    • In The Media
    • Media Enquiries
  • Students
  • International
    • Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity
    • Whetstone Freedom Fund
    • EPICENTER
    • Translations
    • IEA Primers
  • Donate
    • Donate Now
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Donate to IEA Projects
    • Other Ways to Donate
    • Legacy Gift
    • Donate from USA
    • Contact Us
  • Events
    • Past Events
  • Home
  • About
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Epicenter
  • Contact Us

BBC misrepresents National Social Survey

Philip Booth
7 December 2011
Uncategorized

SUGGESTED

previous
Uncategorized

Assessing the free-school effect at a system-wide level

6 December 2011
next
Uncategorized

Clegg is half right on universal old-age benefits

8 December 2011
latest
Brexit

Raising Our Allowance - Understanding Britain's Emissions Trading Scheme

4 April 2025
The BBC’s coverage of the National Social Survey shows the BBC at its very worst. It has completely misrepresented the survey to promote its own political worldview that we are becoming more selfish and less concerned about others. The headline it uses on the front page of its website is: “UK less willing to help others”. I have just read the survey and, in 227 pages, I cannot find any reference to whether people are less willing to help others.

It would seem that what the BBC means is that we are less willing to pay taxes for redistribution and public services. This could be for one of several reasons:

1.       With government spending over half of national income, people wish to rebalance their spending away from collectively provided goods and redistribution.


2.       With government spending over half of national income and income inequality widening, people believe that more government spending is not the answer.


3.       People wish the government to spend less but wish to help others more through their personal initiative.


4.       People believe that the less-well-off are responsible for their own problems to a greater extent.


5.       People are more selfish.


In fact, there is no evidence in the report, whatsoever – as far as I can see – for proposition 5, which the BBC suggests is the case. There is a lot of evidence that people are motivated in their answers by 2 and 4 and possibly 1. Issues to do with 3 (and 5) are simply not covered.

Page 36 of the report (table A.1) does , indeed, suggest that fewer people over time wish to pay more taxes for public services and redistribution – this is not surprising given how far taxes have risen and does not at all indicate that people are less willing to help others. Indeed, the answer to this question does not even demonstrate that people are less willing to pay high taxes now than ten years ago, given that the question is being asked at a time when taxes are much higher than they were then.

The explanation is possibly provided by table A.2. Fewer people believe that current benefit levels cause hardship and more people believe that benefit levels discourage people from finding jobs. So, there we have it, it is quite clear that the people surveyed actually believe that increased benefits do not help people. It is not that people do not want to help, it is that people believe that benefits do not provide that help. Perhaps people have a more realistic view of the problems in the benefits system than the BBC news editors.

Exactly the same issues arise with the question of whether people are willing to pay more taxes for the sake of the environment. The proportion who are willing to do so has fallen by between a third and a half (depending on the group of respondents) but, interestingly, the proportion who are willing to accept a cut in their standard of living to help the environment has fallen by only a quarter. There would seem to be one logical explanation here. Firstly, people believe that taxes are relatively less effective in terms of the ability to help the environment, as compared with other measures, than they used to believe. Secondly, if people have made more sacrifices (in terms of both higher taxes and cuts in living standards) over the last ten years, more people are likely to believe that they have made the “optimal” degree of sacrifice and would not wish to make further sacrifices.

However, maybe we should not try too hard to produce strictly logical interpretations of these surveys. The questions on education produce some interesting material. Only eight per cent of respondents believe that parents should not have the basic right to choose their children’s school, yet 85 per cent believe that parents should send their children to the nearest state school! Interestingly, the survey commentary suggests that the middle class might be more in favour of school choice because the research they cite suggests that the middle class gain most from school choice. In fact, where proper school choice exists (rather than limited options being provided amongst state schools) the evidence strongly suggests that it is the less-well-off who gain most.

This is no excuse, though, for the BBC leading its coverage by using a headline that reflects its prejudices but that relates to an issue that is not addressed in the survey. Rowan Williams, having seen the BBC coverage, will now be off like a rocket as he seeks to pontificate about how capitalism is making us more selfish.

Philip Booth
Philip Booth is Senior Academic Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs. He is also Director of the Vinson Centre and Professor of Economics at the University of Buckingham and Professor of Finance, Public Policy and Ethics at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham. He also holds the position of (interim) Director of Catholic Mission at St. Mary’s having previously been Director of Research and Public Engagement and Dean of the Faculty of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences. From 2002-2016, Philip was Academic and Research Director (previously, Editorial and Programme Director) at the IEA. From 2002-2015 he was Professor of Insurance and Risk Management at Cass Business School. He is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Federal Studies at the University of Kent and Adjunct Professor in the School of Law, University of Notre Dame, Australia. Previously, Philip Booth worked for the Bank of England as an adviser on financial stability issues and he was also Associate Dean of Cass Business School and held various other academic positions at City University. He has written widely, including a number of books, on investment, finance, social insurance and pensions as well as on the relationship between Catholic social teaching and economics. He is Deputy Editor of Economic Affairs. Philip is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and an honorary member of the Society of Actuaries of Poland. He has previously worked in the investment department of Axa Equity and Law and was been involved in a number of projects to help develop actuarial professions and actuarial, finance and investment professional teaching programmes in Central and Eastern Europe. Philip has a BA in Economics from the University of Durham and a PhD from City University.


3 thoughts on “BBC misrepresents National Social Survey”

  1. Kris
    Posted 07/12/2011 at 14:28 | Permalink

    The Fabian Society did the same thing a while ago, using the British Social Attitude Survey to show that people have become more ‘hard-nosed’ about the poor and the unemployed. They blamed the media, for writing too much about welfare fraud.
    But what the BSA really showed was that support for higher unemployment benefits was lower in the mid-2000s than in the mid-1980s. A weird comparison, because it obviously makes a difference whether unemployment is around 10% or around 5%.

  2. Don Latuske
    Posted 07/12/2011 at 21:46 | Permalink

    Interesting, Philip, that you state it shows the BBC at its worst. Personally, I see this this as standard, par-for-the-course reporting. Just as the eurozone crisis rages all around us, the BBC talk about Britain being left in the “slow-lane”, as if the best place to be is in the eurozone!! If Cameron has any balls (which is hardly likely), he will make the “slow-lane” look positively inviting. Better still, he should start the ball rolling for Britain to re-acquire our sovereigny given away immorally and unethically by previous generations of “political elites” (is that an oxymoron, like Australian Culture?) by the same invidious and insidious way that the EU has grown. By the way, if an elite is something that floats to the top, like cream, which is the implication, I happened to have worked for a Water and Waste Utility for 17 years and you should see what else floats to the top in one of their sewage works.

  3. Philip
    Posted 08/12/2011 at 14:19 | Permalink

    Good point, Don. In fact, it continued. I was on Jeremy Vine yesterday and the debate was around whether, in time of great stagnation, we should look upon unemployed people as lazy as, it was suggested, increasing numbers of people were doing. Exactly the same issues were discussed on “‘Thought’ for the day” this morning. I pointed out on Jeremy Vine – though could not do so, of course on “‘Thought’ for the day” that the figures released yesterday were for 2009, that the increase in the “laziness” accusation took place between 1994 and 2003 and, in fact, the number thinking that way had actually declined since 2003! Of course, one can always invent some facts if the real ones do not match the theory.

Comments are closed.


SHARE

Follow IEA on Twitter Like IEA on Facebook Connect with IEA on LinkedIn

Newsletter Signup


The IEA is an educational charity and free market think tank.

Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.

About the IEA Donate
  • About Us
  • Staff
  • What We Do
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Donate Now
  • Publications
  • In The Media
  • Press Release
  • Media Enquiries
Newsletter signup

Keep in touch with the IEA
  • Donate
  • Like
  • Follow
  • Watch
  • Follow

Copyright © Institute of Economic Affairs | REGISTERED IN ENGLAND 755502, CHARITY NO. CC/235 351, LIMITED BY GUARANTEE

XWe use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.
Read More
REJECTCookie settings
ACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Advertisement

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.

Performance

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Analytics

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Functional

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

Uncategorized

Undefined cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.

Save & Accept
Powered by CookieYes