What do British people think about welfare state?
Economic axis · 🇬🇧 the United Kingdom · measured continuously, published only above 100 responses.
34% of British respondents take the position “The state should provide health care, free when you need it.”, against 45% for “Health care should mostly be bought and sold, with help for those who cannot pay.”, with 21% choosing neither. n = 105, margin of error ±9.7, weighted to the United Kingdom's adult population.
Where the United Kingdom sits on economic
What is measured about the United Kingdom on this axis. These are facts about the country, not what its people think about them — that is the part of this page waiting on a sample.
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Health spending
WHO Global Health Expenditure · 2024
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11.1% |
among the highest in the world
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Tax revenue
IMF Government Finance Statistics · 2024
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26.9% |
among the highest in the world
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Income inequality (Gini)
World Bank PovcalNet/PIP · 2021
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32.4 0–100 |
somewhat below the middle
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Life expectancy
UN World Population Prospects · 2024
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81.4 years |
higher than most countries
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Ranked against every country with a published figure for the same series. Sources: World Bank World Development Indicators, which republish UN, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, SIPRI, IISS and UNODC data.
The questions that bear on welfare state
Asked as a forced choice between two written positions, in randomised order, with the sides flipped for half of respondents.
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A · Health care should mostly be bought and sold, with help for those who cannot pay.
B · The state should provide health care, free when you need it.
World, unweighted: 22% A ·
20% neither ·
58% B · n = 4750
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34% B 🇬🇧 n=105 |
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A · Free trade and business have done more to end poverty than state help has.
B · State help has done more to end poverty than free trade and business have.
World, unweighted: 22% A ·
20% neither ·
58% B · n = 4766
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42% B 🇬🇧 n=111 |
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A · Money from the state should go to people who work, or who clearly need it.
B · The state should pay everyone enough to live on, with no strings.
World, unweighted: 24% A ·
20% neither ·
56% B · n = 4775
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38% B 🇬🇧 n=110 |
A national figure appears only once that nation clears 100 responses on the question. The world column is a raw count of every answer received and is not post-stratified — it is shown because withholding it would say less, not more.
Asked another way
The same question, as people put it.
- The united kingdom public opinion on welfare state
- Welfare state poll the united kingdom
- What do british people think about welfare state
- What percentage of british people support welfare state
Each has one answer on this page, and it is the same answer.