People in the UK say the economy and inflation are currently the most important issues facing the country. But do Britons actually know much about how the economy works?
My colleagues, Dan Kenealy and Hayley Bennett, and I used a survey to study public attitudes and knowledge about the UK economy and politics. We analysed the responses of more than 4,400 adults, and found that many people answer fact-based questions about the economy, employment rights and benefits incorrectly. For example, only just under half knew that stock markets can rise even when the economy is not growing.
This is a problem because, as a general election nears, people may not be able to tell fact from fiction in upcoming policy debates. Our findings also show that there are political implications, with certain groups of people more likely to be informed about different topics. This correlates with support for specific policies or political parties – people who know more factually about welfare are more likely to support it, for example.
Less than 5% of the UK government’s welfare budget is spent directly on unemployment benefits.
We found that older people, those with university degrees and men tend to show somewhat greater knowledge about the economy and welfare state in general. But when we analysed specific topics, important differences emerged. For example, men were more likely to answer questions about finance correctly then women – but women were more knowledgeable about benefits. And people from higher-income households answered more questions about finance correctly, but not about benefits or employment rights.
