Personal worries on a global scale
Just one in four Britons (24%) rate their current financial situation as strong - about the same level as in Mexico, South Africa and Spain according to a new poll of 24 countries by Ipsos.
With 2011 being dominated by a poor economy both in Britain, Europe and around the world, Britons are more negative about their own finances than Germans, Americans, Canadians and Swedes. Of the 24 countries surveyed, Hungarians (10%), Italians (12%) and the Japanese (13%) are the most negative about their personal financial situations.
Not only are Britons negative about their current situation, they are also pretty downbeat about the prospects of improvement. Just one in five (20%) British adults expect their personal financial situation to be stronger in the next six months, in line with the 21% of Spaniards and 23% of Poles that say the same. Online citizens in Brazil are the most positive about their future, with 84% expecting improvement. A third (33%) of Americans and Canadians (34%) also expect improvement. The French and Italians are particularly negative about the next six months with just around one in ten (9% and 13%) respectively predicting any improvement of their financial situation.
The survey also found that around one in five (18%) of British adults say it is likely that either they or someone they know will lose their job in the next six months. The highest level of anxiety about job losses is among the online citizens of Hungary (34%), Mexico (34%) and Saudi Arabia (31%). Those that feel most safe are people in Sweden (9%), Germany (9%) and Japan (10%).
Simon Atkinson, Assistant Chief Executive of Ipsos said:
“On the economy Brits have been among the gloomiest nations in the world throughout 2011, and this just shows that the concern is also of a personal nature. We are more negative about our financial prospects than our North American cousins but not as bad the French and Italians.”
Technical note Ipsos Global @dvisor is a monthly online survey conducted by Ipsos via the Ipsos Online Panel system in 24 countries around the world.
For the results of the survey presented herein, an international sample of 18,682 age 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries, were interviewed between 1 and 15 November 2011. Approximately 1000+ individuals participated on a country by country basis via the Ipsos Online Panel with the exception of Argentina, Belgium, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey, where each have a sample approximately 500+.
Weighting was employed to balance demographics and ensure the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to the most recent country Census data available and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe, (in the small number of developing countries where access to the internet is limited respondents are more likely to be affluent and well connected than the average member of the population.)
