Key takeaways from the British Social Attitudes Survey in 2024

Learn how the British Social Attitudes Survey can be used to glean insights on the country’s social, political and moral attitudes. We’ll explore what topics the Survey looks at, who might find it useful, its methodology, key insights from the most recent Surveys and how to follow this up with your own survey and audience mood tracking tools.

The British Social Attitudes Survey is a yearly survey providing insights into what the UK’s population thinks of Britain, its culture and how it is run. Its last iteration was run on 12 June 2024. 

Often used by NGOs, journalists, politicians, marketers and other opinion formers, the Survey provides valuable insights into public sentiment and how it shifts over time. It is particularly useful for marketing professionals looking to market products to UK customers appropriately, particularly where it comes to tone of voice, relatability and advertising campaign messaging which help to foster consumer loyalty and trust. 

It is also useful to CX professionals aiming to identify and address customer pain points, because it provides insights into potential lifestyle stressors that might affect the UK population.

The Survey could also help HR professionals gain insights into changing attitudes in the workplace, such as those related to ageing (e.g. attitudes to retirement), children and families (e.g. attitudes to working mothers, paternity leave) and mental health and wellbeing. 

The British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey has been conducted 41 times since it first began in 1983. Each year, around 4,000 respondents over the age of 18 are asked around 300 questions on social and political attitudes. 

The Survey uses time series data, which unlike opinion polls, allows for the collection of information on the same topics over an extended period of time. Another feature which makes the BSA Survey different to opinion polls is its use of piloting questions with a small sample of the public, ensuring that they are clear and understandable by a wide range of participants. 

Quick tip: Want to see how data trends change over time? Use the SurveyMonkey Data Trends tool to get visualisations and compare results over different time intervals.

The Survey uses random probability representative sampling, selecting small proportions of people to survey within larger groups (such as by gender, ethnicity or age). This makes it useful for gaining insights about British social attitudes across a wide variety of different demographics. 

Key variables considered in the BSA include:

The Survey covers a wide range of topics, such as:

Each British Social Attitudes Survey has a slightly different focus. Therefore, it makes sense to look at Survey results from the previous three years as this provides insights across a wider range of topics. Some of the topics covered in this year’s Survey include:

To get a more recent snapshot of the UK’s attitudes across topics of your choice, why not conduct your own representative survey using SurveyMonkey audience targeting tools?

Since this guide is designed to help CX and marketing professionals use Survey insights to inform their understanding of customer attitudes, we will be focusing on areas like:

This can support better-targeted advertising, improved customer experience strategies and more effective campaign planning. 

In this section, we’ll explore some of the most recent key insights and takeaways from the British Social Attitudes Survey. 

The 2021 Survey revealed that a small but considerable percentage of people in working class occupations (16%) were more likely than those in ‘professional’ occupations (12%) to emphasise the importance of as many people as possible being better off than their parents compared to ‘professional’ occupations.

It also discovered that a ‘better life’ than their parents was most commonly associated with factors like:

This was much higher compared to factors like:

The 2024 British Social Attitudes Survey found that dissatisfaction with the NHS is at an all-time high, with 52% of respondents expressing dissatisfaction, more than double the level reported in 2019 (25%). Dissatisfaction with social care also rose from 37% in 2019 to 57%. 

According to a 2024 National Centre for Social Research report which drew on 2023’s Survey, some of the main reasons for patient dissatisfaction included:

Some of the possible improvements that patients identified were:

In 2023, the BSA highlighted the many ways in which British values have shifted considerably in the 40 years since the Survey started. For example, in 1983, 17% of people believed that same-sex relationships were ‘not wrong at all’, compared with 67% of people today. In 1994, 64% of people thought that it was acceptable for people to live together without intending to get married, compared with 81% today. Generally, support for non-traditional family forms has increased.

Latest British Social Attitudes Survey findings discovered that while there was a general downwards trend regarding ‘national pride’, pride in Britain’s ‘arts and literature’ only fell by 1% over the last decade, making it the area British people are most proud of, ahead of sport (77%). Pride in the arts and literature was around 10 points higher than it was 30 years ago. 

However, there has been a steep drop in pride in British sports performance compared to 2023, dropping from 84% to 77%.

In the 2024 Survey, British identity was considered less related to family background and more to do with an individual’s respect for British laws and political institutions. 

Now that we’ve highlighted these key takeaways, let’s look at how you can use these to deepen your insights and conduct further research. 

You can use Survey takeaways to inform both market research and improved customer experience in a range of different sectors. Let’s look at how:

British people are most likely to consider health, education and working conditions to be the most important factors for achieving a better life than their parents. For market researchers, it may be valuable to take on board these important social attitudes, since it can reveal a lot about where the British public’s priorities lie. This can also tell you what they might want for their family and their desires for the future.

Additionally, since non-traditional family forms are increasing and becoming more accepted in British society, HR professionals may benefit from considering new ways to support employees with families. Consider conducting further surveys to find out which benefits and perks employees most value in your workplace. 

Results from the Survey highlight patient communication and online experience as key areas for improvement in healthcare organisations. Long waiting times for appointments and difficulty getting one were identified as major issues, suggesting a need to improve online appointment booking experiences. 

Since we found in our article on the UK’s Annual Health Survey that some demographics may be at increasing risk of drinking (such as young women) and e-cigarette smoking, reaching as many people as possible is important to providing the right care. 

Need to know how satisfied patients are with their online experience? Learn about customer touchpoints, from how they can greatly impact a patient’s journey through service awareness, to booking an appointment and follow-up communications. 

Marketers in the publishing, television and film industries for example, can take an optimistic approach to how their customers view the arts and literature in Britain. In order to gain deeper insight into public sentiment, you might consider asking questions on topics such as:

To do this, you can use a longitudinal survey – because we found that to stay on top of people’s changing opinions and attitudes, it’s best to check in with them consistently and proactively. Additionally, find out about how to communicate brand voice, so you can reach potentially shifting and wide-ranging cultural tastes and attitudes. 

Our article on the UK’s top consumer trends offers key insights into consumer behaviour models, trends such as online shopping, consumer mood and social media brand interaction. Understanding the motivations and desires behind consumer moods, attitudes and behaviours is one great way of discovering why customers keep coming back to your brand.

There are notable shifts in the British public’s attitudes towards the NHS, culture and social values. By keeping up to date with these shifts and identifying their root causes, CX and marketing professionals can better target audiences, reach new demographics and keep branding tone and voice relevant for the future. 
Use SurveyMonkey Voice of the Customer resources to gain more detailed insights into your own customer base and target demographics, driving business impact.

How can I find out more about British public attitudes towards social media?

Use longitudinal and/or time series data to track changing attitudes to social media. The Understanding Society survey can also be useful in helping you gain insight into changing attitudes over a time period.

Who conducts the British Social Attitudes Survey?

The Survey is conducted by the National Centre for Social Research, which is non-profit and independently-run organisation.