ITV News Index

For the first time since October 2010 more people don’t expect a further recession than expect one.

Date Published: 22 Nov 2013

Categories: Economy | Politics | Public and communities | UK

Description

Recession in the UK

For the first time in the ComRes / ITV News Index more Britons disagree (36%) than agree (34%) that the UK is on course for another recession. The two thirds (34%) of Britons who agree mark the lowest ever percentage in the News Index for this question.

Women (39%) are more likely than men (28%) to agree that the UK is on course for another wave of recession.

Agreement that the UK is on course for another recession is highest amongst those from the DE social grade (46%), higher than the 29% of those in the AB social grade who agree.

 

Coalition approval

The percentage of Britons who believe that the Coalition Government is bad for Britain is at its lowest level since June 2012. Half of the British public (50%) say that the Coalition is bad for Britain, while 27% say it is good for Britain.

Young Britons aged 18-34 are the least likely to believe the Coalition is bad for Britain (43%), compared with more than half (54%) of those aged 55+.

 

Right Direction

The same percentage of Britons agree that the country is heading in the right direction (41%) as disagree (41%), the highest level of agreement since October 2010 (when this question was first asked in the News Index). However there are clear divides across demographic groups:

Six in ten (59%) Britons aged 65+ say that the country is heading in the right direction, almost double the percentage of 18-24 year olds (31%) who say the same.

Half (49%) of the British public from the AB social grade say that the country is heading in the right direction, a marked contrast with the three in ten (31%) of DE’s who agree, suggesting those further down the social scale are not as optimistic as those at the top.

Those in the public sector are less optimistic than their private sector counterparts about the way the country is headed. Four in ten (40%) private sector employees agree that the country is heading in the right direction, contrasting with three in ten (31%) public sector employees.

 

Methodology Note:

ComRes interviewed 2,010 British adults online between 15^th and 17^th November 2013. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults aged 18+. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.