This document discusses public attitudes towards public services and volunteering in the UK. It finds that most people believe public services have gotten worse over the last five years and do not have confidence that the current government's policies will improve them long-term. While many people feel they have skills to offer their communities, stated interest in volunteering does not always translate into high participation rates. Factors like being asked directly, a sense of reciprocity, and social norms can encourage more social action. Efforts should focus on empowering communities to help themselves and each other, rather than expecting people to help strained public services.

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What the public think of public services and volunteering
Bobby Duffy Managing Director, Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute Visiting Senior Research Fellow, King’s College London

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Views on public services…

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Not great hope for the future…
Base: 1,004 GB adults aged 18+. *Base sizes smaller than 100, please note that results are indicative only.
Source: Ipsos MORI Political Monitor, Oct 2013
Do you agree or disagree… “In the long term, this government’s policies will improve the state of Britain’s public services”
35%
59%
6%
Agree
Disagree

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-40
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
% net agree
Do you agree or disagree… “In the long term, this government’s policies will improve the state of Britain’s public services”
2005 General Election (May 05)
Brown as PM (Jun 07)
2001 General Election (Jun 01)
2010 General Election; Cameron as PM (May 10)
Looking back 10+ years…
Base: c. 1,000 British adults 18+ each month
Source: Ipsos MORI Political Monitor
Do you agree or disagree… “In the long term, this government’s policies will improve the state of Britain’s public services”

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Do you think each service has got better or worse in the last five years, or has it stayed the same?
As many services improving as deteriorating…
Base: 1,031
Source: BBC October 2013
27
15
11
13
11
8
14
8
8
9
7
5
4
4
21
18
18
16
16
20
11
13
12
11
12
10
7
7
3
6
9
14
11
14
9
4
11
9
9
10
15
10
18
3
6
6
14
12
16
8
3
8
8
7
11
13
12
49
2
Recycling collection
Parks and open spaces
GPs surgeries
Refuse collection
Hospitals
Schools and colleges
Leisure centres
Bus service
Street lighting
Libraries
Street cleaning
The police
Care for the elderly
Road maintenance
Meals-on-wheels
Got much better
Got a little better
Got a little worse
Got much worse

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Do you think each service has got better or worse in the last five years, or has it stayed the same?
Among users… look at the bottom...
Base: Response from those who use the service
Source: BBC October 2013
36
43
36
23
29
29
29
28
22
9
22
16
11
22
23
28
32
32
Leisure centres
Schools and colleges
Parks and open…
Meals on wheels
Libraries
Bus services
GP service
Hospitals
Care for the elderly
% Better
Worse
Net score
+27
+21
+20
+7
+12
+6
+1
-4
-10

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32%
31%
30%
19%
33%
33%
38%
31%
15%
13%
14%
19%
8%
7%
5%
8%
2012
2010
2012
2010
% Strongly Agree
% Disagree
Strongly Disagree
To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements:
Many think government has tried to do too much…
Base: c500 British adults, 9 – 11 June 2012
Source: Ipsos MORI
In recent years government and public services have tried to do too much, and people should take more responsibility
I am worried that government and public services will do too little to help people in the years ahead

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Our role in helping services and our areas…

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No such thing as society?
Base: c. 500 GB adults 18+ each statement, April 2013
Source: Ipsos MORI April 2013
16%
10%
74%
Agree
Neither/don't know
Disagree
“There is no such thing as society.”
63%
13%
24%
Long excerpt starting from: “We've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it….They're casting their problem on society. And there is no such thing as society... No government can do anything except through people…People have got the entitlements too much in mind, without the obligations.”

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How much do you agree or disagree that … the creation of the welfare state is one of Britain's proudest achievements.”
Generational differences hugely important for future expectations and relationship with state…
Base: Each data point represents >200 responses
Source: British Social Attitudes
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Pre war (before 1945)
Baby boomers (1945-65)
Generation x (1966-1979)
Generation y (1980-2000)
Similar patterns on connection to political parties, religion, views of further redistribution through the state…

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Almost entirely wrong…
Not active rejection of welfare state or selfishness among younger cohorts – instead lack of connection to big institutions, and greater emphasis on personal responsibility

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To what extent do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements:
But we don’t always seem consistent in our views on the role of people in public services
Base: 417 British adults 18+; *420 British adults 18+; **416 British adults 18+
Source: Ipsos MORI/Economist. 18-19 April 2010
6
13
21
9
10
37
40
28
49
28
32
% Tend to disagree
% Strongly disagree
% Tend to agree
% Strongly agree
People in Britain should get more involved in helping improve our public services and local areas
I should get more involved in helping improve our public services and local areas*
The government is responsible for improving public services and local areas, they shouldn’t be calling on the public to help**

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Our stated interest in getting involved depends on what you ask…
Just 5% say they want more active involvement in local public services (when given option of having a say, just getting info etc. instead)…

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To what extent, if at all, would you be interested or not in doing each of the following?
…significantly higher interest when more specific and personal social action
Base: 999 British adults. 1-7 August
Source: Nesta/Ipsos MORI
60%
58%
43%
33%
Taking part in an event to help improve the local environment (e.g. clearing pathways, litter picking etc)
Visiting patients in a local hospital
Doing shopping for an older neighbour
Joining a team of volunteers to help clean up if there were freak storms in your local area
Once a week = 53%
A few hours a month = 32%
Organising…= 44%

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To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? I have skills that my neighbours might find useful
…and many people feel they have useful skills
22%
41%
24%
9%
3%
Base: 999 British adults. 1-7 August
Source: Nesta/Ipsos MORI
Strongly agree
Tend to agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Strongly disagree
Tend to disagree

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Stated interest exists – and more varied and innovative social action options than ever?
So why…

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% volunteer at least once a month
…are volunteering trends stubbornly flat?
Base: c. 6,600 Adults (aged 16+) in England and Wales
Source: Citizenship Survey/Community Life Survey
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
All volunteering
Informal volunteering
Formal volunteering

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21%
32%
26%
27%
21%
31%
31%
38%
32%
35%
34%
42%
75 and over
65 to 74
50 to 64
35 to 49
26 to 34
16 to 25
Monthly informal volunteering 2014
Monthly formal volunteering 2014
Changing context? But youngest group most likely to be active…
Base: c. 6,600 Adults (aged 16+) in England and Wales
Source: Community Life Survey 2013-14
No sign of generational decline – current young at least as active as previous young

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What would encourage more people to do more?

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There has been a lot of study of the drivers of social action…
•Huge literature on understanding what’s associated with “prosocial behaviour”, and what would encourage more of it
•Acknowledgement that significant gap between what people say will encourage action and what is actually related: caution with surveys…
•Individual characteristics and context both important – e.g. just being asked (at right time) versus “role identity”, habit etc.
•Increasing focus on reciprocity and what people get out of it, as well as altruism
•And focus on “social information”: what others are doing (which people underestimate)
•Can see from evaluations of key recent programmes like Community Organisers, Community First and National Citizen Service…

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Community organisers – how does it work?*
Listening
•Knocking on several hundred doors in a small area during a training year
•Asking people what they love about their area, and what their concerns are
•Helping people to become aware of and articulate their self-interest
Building networks
•Bringing people together who share similar concerns
•Building local networks based on mutual self-interest
•Encouraging those involved to listen to others
Enabling action
•Helping individuals and groups to develop ideas based on priorities and concerns
•Supporting community-led projects to improve neighbourhoods and tackle problems
•Over time, creating social change through collective action
*The simplified version!
Key point: not what can people do to help public services – what people can do to help themselves and other people

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Don’t worry about “postcode lotteries” too much…
But do need to focus on this…

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% of respondents
Base: England c.8,700 adults aged 16+
Source: Citizenship Study 2009/10
R² = 0.9453
R² = 0.94
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
IMD Deciles (England)
Formal volunteering in last 12 months
Informal volunteering
in last 12 months
Least deprived
Most deprived
Varied capability in communities is a challenge for social action…

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So, overall…
•Social action in many ways fits with elements of public mood…
•…and how shifting over time, between generations
•An opportunity for public services
•Still the familiar problems of scaling (with equity)
•Build on what known from huge range of behavioural studies
•If get the offer right – people helping people not a bad place to start…

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Thank you
Bobby.duffy@ipsos.com | 020 7347 3267
26/03/14
This work was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the international quality standard for market research, ISO 20252:2006 and with the Ipsos MORI Terms and Conditions which can be found here