Only 1 in 4 people believe UK will ’build back better’

Only a quarter of the UK public are confident that 'build back better' can be delivered after the pandemic, according to new findings published today by UCL researchers. The insights come from analysis of the results of a UCL-commissioned YouGov survey to test responses to the 'build back better' concept, favoured by politicians on both sides of the Atlantic to talk about addressing inequalities exposed and exacerbated by Covid-19. While the findings show that the public feel the concept is of great importance and they predominantly support prioritising investment in the NHS, analysis also shows that views are highly divergent across different population groups. Over 6,900 people across the UK responded to questions focusing on attitudes towards rebuilding after the pandemic, areas of priority for investment and levels of confidence that 'building back better' can be achieved. The researchers explored how public attitudes differed by UK region, gender, ethnicity (categorised as White or Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME)), age (categorised as 18-24, 25-49, 50-64, 65+), and other equalities characteristics, with data weighted to match the UK population. This enabled the researchers to take an intersectional approach to their analysis, exploring how ethnicity, gender, age and other characteristics interconnect and influence opinions. Their analysis revealed that, across all population groups and all regions of the UK, 'building back better' was viewed as important, with over half (53%) of respondents saying it was either 'very important' or 'fairly important' to them personally.