Time After Time
Summary from We British: From Walkmans to Wi-Fi to What?
Back in 1944, Winston Churchill said, “the longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward”. A similar sentiment was expressed in 1989 by Doc Brown in Back to the Future II: “I didn't invent the time machine for financial gain! The intent here is to gain a clearer perception of humanity. Where we've been, where we're going, the pitfalls and the possibilities, the perils, and the promise”.
We are now over a decade on from the futuristic 2015 that Doc, Marty and Jennifer travelled to, but instead of flying hoverboards, today’s world is a time of rapid change, disruption and uncertainty.
So at Ipsos we decided to use our over half-century of research heritage to put that change into context, to help us unlock the underlying drivers shaping the new UK.
Across all the different topics we covered, three common threads emerge. From our frustration with the state of the modern world to underlying personal resilience, from more liberal values to unsolved questions over our economic priorities, from widening aspirations and the benefits of technology to dealing with the pressures and tensions that these bring in their wake, these three drivers are vital for understanding Britain today.
Most of us are still happy with our lives, although fewer of us are “very” satisfied than in 1991. But we are more frustrated with the state of the country, and feel more overwhelmed with the pace of life these days. Nearly all now think the country is heading in the wrong direction, belief in the quality of our government and politicians, never very high, has slipped even further, and even the NHS – although still one of the biggest sources of national pride – has seen a stark drop in satisfaction. Other institutions, such as the monarchy, are also losing support, while immigration continues to be a source of national anxiety (although outright anti-immigration attitudes are lower than they have been in the past). Unlike previous periods of dissatisfaction, this is all against a backdrop of unprecedented political fragmentation and a new concern over political polarisation. We see a similar pattern in attitudes to the economy and business. Amidst lower satisfaction with standards of living, we are now experiencing record levels of economic pessimism, driven by concerns about the cost of living. Brand relationships are also tested, with Brits less likely to trust that even companies with good reputations will not sell poor products. For employers, most workers still say they are satisfied with their jobs (although again not quite as strongly as before), but there is now more distance between employee and employer. We are more uncertain about Britain’s place in the world too. While we feel closer to Europe than in the mid-80s, we are less confident in the US, and we think another world war is much more likely now even than at the height of the Cold War in 1983 – which means that instead of being able to rely on the “peace dividend” any more we now expect defence spending to need to increase. The rest of the world is feeling more uncertain too – Britain is hardly alone in feeling these pressures. Other countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US also all have high levels of concern about the state of their country or their economy (if not both). The danger is that all this pessimism is now seen as more embedded in our national character; we are now twice as likely to describe the British people as pessimistic as optimistic, but back in 1988 we, like in Kipling’s If, treated those two imposters just the same. |
We are more liberal on issues such as sexuality, gender roles, relationships, and ethnic diversity, and what’s more that’s something we are aware of, being more likely to describe ourselves as tolerant now than in 1988. Freedom and autonomy of choice seem to be much more part of our moral framework than traditional reliance on religion, but we are still concerned over harm to others, from the use of hard drugs, hooliganism, marital affairs, experiments on animals and capital punishment. Other values have remained constant – such as our belief in helping others, especially the vulnerable, the value of hard work, a universal health and education system and protection for the environment. But when it comes to the paradoxical nature of our economic values, the split between collectivism and individualism and Britons’ desire for both low taxes and a high-quality system of public services and welfare, we have made less progress since the 1980s. We are still split on questions of income equality vs rewarding effort, and there are signals of a public reaction against higher levels of tax and welfare spending. This all suggests the public still want to see a social contract in place, that rewards economic growth and looks after the vulnerable, but are becoming frustrated with a system they don’t think is delivering for ordinary people nor doing its part to uphold the contributory principles upon which it relies. |
Our aspirations for life haven’t so much changed in nature as changed in scope. Although it may sometimes feel like nearly every Briton in 2026 is dreaming of being a social media influencer or having their own podcast, that’s not the case. Instead, more prosaic hopes of going to university, travel, learning to drive, owning your own home and just falling in love have become more widely shared, more democratised. We’ve also become more globetrotting in outlook – our ideal holiday is now abroad rather than at home, and the food we eat more likely to consist of pizza and pasta than a fry-up or the chippy. But not all these changes mean that everyone’s benefitting from these opportunities. Particularly in the case of home-ownership, we may be seeing a change from something that was once taken for granted into a recognition that this is now just as desired, but much harder to achieve. Indeed, belief in the power of social mobility – that the best people can get to the top whatever start they have had in life – has halved since 1989. Our daily lives also show a mix of the old routine (such as going to the pub, football, DIY and gardening), and changes both good and bad. While our lifestyles appear healthier, with less alcohol and much less smoking, our diets also include less fresh fruit and wholemeal bread. People in our ageing population are taking it on themselves to manage their own health, with big rises in personal use of medicine and vitamin pills, and doing more exercise even as competitive sport has declined. The impact of new technology has brought its pros and cons. Stepping back, the data shows how it’s become embedded in our daily lives: the internet and smartphones are not just nice-to-haves but essentials for the vast majority of Britons, gaming is as popular a pastime as going to the cinema, we are as likely to post on social media as to invite our friends over for dinner. But while new technology brings opportunities it also brings new stresses, and Britons need reassuring it will bring us together not lead to further division. Most of us are convinced that new technology is essential for Britain’s prosperity, but concern over the threat from AI to employment is higher now than equivalent worries over the impact of information technology back in 1997. And old concerns over children becoming dependent on computers are now far surpassed by worries about children spending too much time on social media and smartphones. |
The evidence suggests Britons still want to believe in a social contract but don’t think it is being honoured. However, Britain economically and socially is in a very different place to 40 years ago, which raises questions over whether the old deal adds up anymore. But what is crucial is that it should not be renegotiated unilaterally and imposed on voters – government, policymakers and politicians of all parties need to engage with the public on the new trade-offs we face to help design a social contract for the UK today.
Britain today is very different to how it was in the past, in its diversity, demographic make-up, and more liberal attitudes, but still underpinned by a set of values that are more long-lasting, around caring for others, family and friends, pride in the NHS, the importance of hard work and protecting the environment. Government policies need to support this, and brands to reflect a diverse, pluralistic society to resonate with today’s consumers.
People’s concerns in 2026 are also a mix of the old and the new – ongoing worries about income inequality, the challenges facing young people, immigration, and division, alongside new worries over the cost of living, the worsening state of public services, global instability, culture wars and the negative impacts of new technology. All of this is resulting in a collapse in faith in how Britain is run, a fragmenting political system, concerns over the loss of social mobility, and an increasing feeling that the pace of life is simply too much.
This results in an overflowing inbox for government and policymakers. They need to deliver economic growth and improved public services, all while there is great pressure on taxes and welfare spending. Policies that seek to enhance social mobility and the positive benefits of technology, to ensure equal opportunities for all citizens, need to be part of this. Politicians also need to restore trust in politics at a time of deep concern over culture wars and polarisation.
Business and brands have their own knotty problems to solve, where ever-changing expectations require constant improvement and innovation just to stand still. And they are having to deal with greater scepticism too, whether from consumers wary of 80s-style spin or from employees feeling top management is becoming more distant.
Over recent years the desire for political stability has grown to become one of the biggest challenges facing British businesses, but for the moment at least they will need to continue to find ways of managing a path through uncertainty. But business and brands can play a more positive role in supporting their own consumers and employees to navigate their own modern anxieties.
As corporations, this may mean focusing more on fundamentals such as quality of products, customer service and fair prices, while demonstrating authentic integrity in their values. It means using technology to tap into evolving, more personalised consumer behaviours and digitalised lifestyle changes while addressing concerns about the potential negative social side-effects. As employers, it is not necessarily about reinventing work but making it function better, especially on the basics of pay, conditions, and fulfilling jobs, and taking real action on employees’ concerns.
There is still much that Britons can and do feel proud about living in the UK today. But the very real difficulties faced by ordinary people over recent years means that pessimism is in danger of moving from Victor Meldrew-style stereotypes of a nation complaining about the weather to a settled part of our outlook that could prove very hard to shift. This needs an honest conversation with the public about the trade-offs required to reset the social contract, so that Britons can still believe in a deal whereby they can both contribute to society and be looked after when necessary.
Nearly 40 years after Doc Brown’s words, it’s the perils and pitfalls that are playing a dominant role in Britain in 2026; government and business need to offer more possibilities and promise.
Some housekeeping on how to interpret the data. By necessity, the questions we have updated were asked at different times across the 1980s and early 1990s, and it is important to remember that this is not one homogeneous period. From the Falklands War to the miners’ strike, from the Lawson boom to the poll tax and start of Margaret Thatcher’s fall, public opinion during this period underwent its own changes and highs and lows. By a similar token, many of these questions have not all been updated since, so we can’t always say exactly what happened in the times in-between. And finally, just like public opinion itself the methods used in market and social research have also changed since we relied on interviewers with their clipboards in the 1980s. This means we should allow a bit more than the usual margins of error when looking at differences, to allow for the effects of moving from face-to-face to online interviewing. We updated these trends in 2026 by using our online KnowledgePanel, which uses gold standard probability sampling. We interviewed 2,576 British adults aged 16+, 4-11 March 2026. Data are weighted to the profile of the population. All polls are subject to a range of sources of bias. |
