Contact: Mr. Lindsay Brook
Tel. 0171 250 1866
Fax. 0171 250 1524
EMail l.brook@scpr.ac.uk
One of the most pressing issues of contemporary public policy, not only in Britain but in all advanced societies, is how to raise sufficient resources to finance public services. Changes in population structure, particularly the rise in the proportion of dependent elderly people, shifts in patterns of employment and unemployment and changes in family structure, together with rising public expectations, all contribute substantially to the growing pressure on state revenues. At the same time, survey data have revealed that, while the majority of the public is in favour of increasing taxes to pay for better social welfare, few seem to take account of the likely impact of the necessary tax rises on their own purse.
It is intended to carry out national surveys of public opinion on tax, public spending and private alternatives to government services. The project will investigate whether people are in fact willing to pay more in tax for improvements in services, and whether they wish to see a greater role for the private (and voluntary) sector in provision.
The national surveys will be administered in two waves to a random sample of about 1200 adults throughout Great Britain as part of SCPR's authoritative British Social Attitudes survey. They will build on questions asked in earlier rounds of the survey and will provide the most comprehensive overview of these issues available in this country. The material is intended to be a resource for other researchers for further analysis.
The work will be of relevance to politicians, civil servants, public policy analysts, the mass media, the business and philanthropic sectors, and the general public and will provide insights into one of the most pressing and most basic questions of public policy - whether the country wishes to pay more for better quality state services. It will also shed light on public perceptions of justice and fairness in the areas of the distribution of incomes, taxation and social welfare policy.
LINDSAY BROOK is a Research Director at Social and Community Planning Research (SCPR). He has co-directed the British Social Attitudes series since 1985 and is also involved in the research programme of the Centre for Research into Elections and Social Trends (CREST), an ESRC Research Centre linking SCPR and Nuffield College, Oxford.
IAN PRESTON is Lecturer in Economics at University College London and a Research Associate of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He is co-author of The Measurement of Household Welfare, (with R. Blundell and I. Walker, Cambridge University Press, 1994) and has written a large number of articles and research reports.
OTHER RESEARCHERS:
John Hall, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
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