Ipsos Research Highlights - 10 March 2021
In this week's Ipsos Research Highlights we explore attitudes towards the vaccine, our party leaders and global opinions on the gender pay gap.
Final findings from latest COVID-19 REACT-1 study published
Our latest REACT report with Imperial College London shows that infections have fallen by a third since January with 1 in 204 people infected, providing an R rate of 0.86. While prevalence fell by 50% across all ages, it was highest among Pakistani participants at 2.1% compared to white (0.45%) and Black participants (0.83%).
Johnson and Hancock see ratings rise amid pre-Budget boost in optimism
Thirty-six per cent now say that things in Britain are heading in the right direction, up from 24% in January. Amid the success of the vaccine programme, Boris Johnson has had a bump in his favourability ratings, 35% are now favourable towards the Prime Minister up +4 points since early January. Labour leader Keir Starmer’s favourability has grown slightly more negative since last month, with a third (34%) now saying they are unfavourable towards him (+4). Rishi Sunak remains the most favourable politician, but will we see this change as the public react to the Budget and the proposed 1% pay increase for NHS workers?
Confidence in the vaccine is growing, even among the most hesitant in people tracked in new Ipsos UK KnowledgePanel poll
With over 22 million people in the UK having received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, 9 in 10 Britons now say they would definitely take the vaccine, up 7 points since December. There has been a big shift in attitude towards the vaccine across Britain and particularly among 16-24 year olds – up from 67% in December to 83% in January. However, there is still some work to be done with other communities, there is still 1 in 5 ethnic minority Britons who definitely would not take the vaccine, compared to just 7% of white Britons.
Britons among least likely to prioritise gender pay gap in COVID recovery
In Britain, only 28% say closing the gender pay gap should be one of our top priorities right now – much lower than similar western European nations. One in 10 Britons (10%) say they think reports about the gender pay gap in the media are fake news. Globally, we found that more flexible working practices and support for women against violence and abuse are key to ensuring the recovery from COVID-19 addresses issues facing women. You can read more about our global study for International Women’s Day, in collaboration with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London here: https://www.ipsos.com/en/covid-19-recovery-takes-priority-over-closing-gender-inequality-globally-while-women-bear-brunt
In other news
Research from Nationwide and Ipsos reveals that 58% of Gen Z and half (49%) of Millennials say they need to spend time with colleagues face-to-face in order to carry out their work effectively.
The Queen remains the most popular member of the Royal Family (40%). While more Britons say the abolition of the monarchy would make Britain’s future worse (43%) than make it better (17%) – one in three (34%) think it would make little difference.
In a recent poll we found that over half (54%) of Britons believe it is acceptable for people to only wear 'smart' clothes on the top half of their body when on work video calls.
As ever, please do let us know what you think, and I hope you find something to interest you.
Ben Page
Chief Executive, Ipsos
[email protected]