What the public think of public services and volunteering

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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 spaces

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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9

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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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17 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

© Ipsos MORI 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