ITN Cuts Index

A ComRes poll for ITV News will shows that public confidence in the economy has dropped since the Spending Review

The second instalment of the Cuts Index, conducted by ComRes and to be broadcast on ITV News at Ten, will show that 57% of the public say they are pessimistic about the future state of the UK economy. This is up 8% on the same question being asked in the first Cuts Index survey conducted before the Spending Review, and compares to 31% of respondents now saying that they are optimistic. 

When asked if they are more worried about the UK economy than they were three months ago, 20% said that they are less worried. However, 48% said that they are more worried – an increase of 6% since before the Spending Review.

43% of people told ComRes that they think the UK is on course for another recession (an increase of 5%), while 25% think that the UK will avoid a double dip.

Asked if they thought the UK was generally heading in the right direction, 37% said yes, but 40% said no – an increase of 8% since before the Spending Review.

Looking at individual circumstances, 45% of people said they were optimistic about their personal financial situation, with 42% saying they were pessimistic. However, breaking these figures down by social demographic shows that just 34% of people in AB social groups are pessimistic, but this figure rises to 53% in the poorer DE groups.

The findings of this second instalment of the Cuts Index will be broadcast on ITV News at Ten on 27th October.

Continuous polling by ComRes will take place over the next 12 months to chart the public’s views on these topics of the coalition, financial wellbeing, public services and personal happiness as austerity measures start to bite.

ComRes interviewed 2,030 GB adults online between 22nd and 24th October 2010.  Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults.  ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.