TY  - JOUR
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/spol.12739
PB  - WILEY
ID  - discovery10130109
N2  - If public attitudes towards the welfare state, inequality and
immigration are becoming increasingly polarized, as recent
political events might suggest, the space for progressive
social policies is more constrained. Using data from the British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) spanning 23years, we analyse trends in these attitudes, examining whether there has
been divergence between those who have been more and
less exposed to disadvantage through changes in the economy and the welfare state across more than two decades.
Taken in this longer term context, and examining characteristics not previously considered in relation to public attitudes such as lone parenthood and disability, we find little
evidence of polarization in attitudes to welfare, inequality
and immigration and even some evidence of attitudinal gaps
narrowing. We conclude that given this lack of division,
there may be greater room for more pro-welfare and progressive policies than the prevalent narrative of polarization
suggests.
KW  - immigration
KW  -  inequality
KW  -  public attitudes
KW  -  welfare state
A1  - Cooper, K
A1  - Burchardt, T
JF  - Social Policy & Administration
EP  - 18
AV  - public
Y1  - 2021/05/26/
TI  - How divided is the attitudinal context for policymaking? Changes in public attitudes to the welfare state, inequality and immigration over two decades in Britain
N1  - © 2021 The Authors. Social Policy & Administration published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
ER  -