Results analysis of attitudes

This series provides detailed analyses by members of the PSE UK research team of the findings of the PSE research into public attitudes to necessities and local services from the 2012 Omnibus survey and the findings of the focus groups . The findings were presented at two final conferences and the presentations can be dowloaded here at the PSE UK Final Conference and here at the PSE Scotland Conference.

The views expressed in these working papers are those of the author(s). The papers are published under the Creative Commons licence and you may copy and distribute them as long as the Creative Commons licence is retained and attribution given to the original author(s).

Analysis series working papers

The necessities of life for children

Author/s:

Gill Main and Jonathan Bradshaw

10 August, 2014

This paper provides an analysis of questions on attitudes to necessities for the child items and activities in the 2012 PSE Attitudes to Necessities survey. For the purposes of this research, adults were asked whether children’s items were necessities or otherwise – the findings therefore represent what adults think children need. The paper, first, presents the overall proportions of the population viewing items as necessities, and where possible compares this to the proportion of the population viewing these items and activities as necessities in previous surveys.

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WP analysis No. 6 -The necessities of life for children (Main and Bradshaw_July 2014).pdf	1.07 MB

Attitudes to 'necessities of life' in Scotland

Author/s:

Maria Gannon and Nick Bailey

26 November, 2013

Do views in Scotland on the necessities differ from those in the rest of the UK? Is reasonable to have a single poverty standard for the whole of the UK or should Scotland have a separate standard. In this this research analysis working paper, Maria Gannon and Nick Bailey examine the PSE UK findings.

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WP Analysis No.5 - Attitudes to the 'necessities of life' in Scotland (Gannon Bailey Nov13).pdf	913.5 KB

Attitudes to necessities in the PSE 2012 survey: are minimum standards becoming less generous

Author/s:

Joanna Mack, Stewart Lansley, Shailen Nandy and Christina Pantazis

22 October, 2013

This PSE UK analysis working paper asks whether minimum standards have become less generous than in the past and if so why. It examines which items and activities in the 2012 PSE attitudes to necessities survey are considered by a majority of people to be necessary for an acceptable standard of living in the UK today

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PSE wp analysis No. 4 - Attitudes to necessities in the 2012 survey (Mack, Lansley, Nandy, Patazis) Oct_2013.pdf	726.25 KB

The Necessities of Life in Northern Ireland

Author/s:

Grace Kelly, Mike Tomlinson, Mary Daly, Paddy Hillyard, Shailen Nandy and Demi Patsios

21 June, 2012

This working paper presents the opinions of the general public as to which items and activities are believed necessary in Northern Ireland today to enjoy a decent standard of living. It is based on an analysis of responses to a module in the Omnibus survey conducted in Northern Ireland in 2011. The responses are explored by key socio-demographic and economic variables to ascertain the extent of agreement among the general public as to their importance.

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WP Analysis No.1 - Kelly et al May2012.pdf	745.4 KB

Local Services Under Seige: Attitudes to Public Services in a Time of Austerity

Author/s:

Kirsten Besemer and Glen Bramley

21 June, 2012

Recent austerity measures in the UK have resulted in major reductions in spending on local public services, which will have a significant impact on both the level and quality of local service provision. This paper presents a new analysis of people’s attitudes to local services and discusses to what extent the degree and allocation of public service cuts reflect the priorities of the general population. Overall, it was found that support for local services remains very high across the UK and has in some cases increased since 1999.

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WP Analysis No.2 - Local Services Under Siege (Besemer Bramley May 2012).pdf	1.31 MB

Public Perceptions of Poverty and Social Exclusion: Final Report on Focus Group Findings

Author/s:

Eldin Fahmy, Simon Pemberton and Eileen Sutton

21 June, 2012

This report describes the results of a series of fourteen focus groups conducted as part of the development work for the PSE: UK research that explored perceptions of poverty, social exclusion and living standards in the UK today. The focus group research uncovered little evidence of consistent variation in perceptions of ‘necessities of life’ across social groups, for example on the basis of household type, ethnicity or income status. The paper explores definitional issues with regards to the term ‘necessity’ and the extent to which contextual information is used in making decisions.