More people than ever are struggling to live on their current income – while just a third say they are living comfortably, according to new research.
Rising prices and sluggish pay increases have put many people’s finances under strain in recent years.
A record 26% now say making ends meet is difficult. Before the pandemic, it was 16%.
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Two-thirds also say their incomes haven’t kept up with inflation, according to the British Social Attitudes report.
That’s only marginally better than the 70% recorded during the height of the cost of living crisis in 2023.
Frozen tax thresholds also appear to be hitting home, with 61% saying taxes on low earners are too high, while 44% believe middle income earners also pay too much.
Those figures are up nine points and 13 points respectively since 2016.
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However, when it comes to the highest earners, 44% believe their taxes are too low.
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The report also asked people about the welfare system – a timely insight with Labour MPs currently rebelling over plans to save £5bn from the budget.
It found support for more spending on disability benefits is at a record low of 45%, down from 67% in 2017 – but only 11% think spending should be reduced.
About 29% of those polled think it’s “too easy” for people to get disability benefits – but the same percentage also feel it’s “too difficult”.
Meanwhile, long waiting times appear to have played a part in the finding that a record 59% are now dissatisfied with the NHS. In 2019, it was just 25%.
Only 21% said they were satisfied with the health service.
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The report is based on a representative, random sample of more than 4,000 people in the UK and was produced by the National Centre for Social Research.
It’s the longest-running measure of public opinion in Britain, having started in 1983.
Professor Sir John Curtice, senior research fellow, said: “The public are well aware of Britain’s problems – not least those of a failing health service and an economy in which many are struggling to make ends meet.
“Yet rather than turning their back on the state, for the most part, the public are still inclined to look to government to provide solutions.”
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Defence was also a key theme of the report – and researchers found about 40% of Britons support spending more money on weapons and troops.
A fifth (20%) said they would like to see a reduction.
It comes as the government revealed it was buying at least 12 stealth jets that can carry nuclear weapons, and as NATO countries, including the UK, promise to increase defence spending.
The National Security Strategy also said the UK must prepare for the potential of a “wartime scenario” in the “UK homeland” for the first time in many years.
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Almost everyone surveyed (90%) considered Russia a serious threat to world peace, followed by Iran (78%), North Korea (77%), Israel (73%), and China (69%).
The percentage supporting more defence spending remains relatively unchanged since 2016, before Russia invaded Ukraine.
However, the share supporting an increase is significantly higher now than that in 2006 (28%) and in the 1990s (17%).
