The 20th edition of British Social Attitudes was published. Support for raising taxes to spend more on health, education and social benefits was found to have nearly doubled over the period 1983-2003, from 32 per cent to 63 per cent: but young people were increasingly less supportive of the welfare state than their elders. People were less satisfied with the National Health Service than they were in 1983. People felt that there should be more students from working-class backgrounds in higher education. Attitudes towards working mothers had become more positive, and racial prejudice had gradually declined. (The survey has been conducted annually since 1983. Each survey consists of over 3,000 interviews with a representative, random sample of people in Great Britain.)
Source: Alison Park, John Curtice, Katarina Thomson, Lindsey Jarvis, and Catherine Bromley (eds.), British Social Attitudes: The 20th Report, SAGE Publications Ltd (020 7324 8500)
Links: NatCen press release (pdf) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2003-Dec
A revised report (following the discovery of errors) was published analysing the 2001 Census data according to health authority area in England and Wales.
Source: Key Statistics for Health Areas in England and Wales (Revised), Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf links)
Date: 2003-Dec
The 2004 edition of the official yearbook of the United Kingdom was published. The yearbook provided an overview of economic, social and cultural affairs in the United Kingdom. It summarised government policies and initiatives, and explained how public services were organised.
Source: UK 2004: Official yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Related links | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Nov
The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit published an analysis of long-run social and economic trends, including benchmarking the United Kingdom against other countries. Looking across a range of indicators for comparator countries, the UK tended to perform relatively poorly during the 1990s - for example on income inequality, teenage pregnancy, regional imbalances, and high levels of congestion. But the report said that on some indicators of future readiness, such as 'fiscal sustainability' and 'microeconomic competitiveness', the UK now performed much better.
Source: Strategic Audit: Discussion document, Strategy Unit/Cabinet Office (020 7276 1881)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
A revised edition was published of a report on the 2001-02 Expenditure and Food Survey. (The survey was launched in April 2001 and replaced the Family Expenditure Survey and the National Food Survey.)
Source: Family Spending: Report on the 2001-2002 Expenditure and Food Survey - Revised edition September 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | DWP press release
Date: 2003-Oct
The 31st edition was published of Work and Pension Statistics (formerly known as Social Security Statistics), a comprehensive summary of statistics on social security issues.
Source: Work and Pension Statistics 2003, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Report (pdf) | Links to chapters (pdf) | DWP press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
An article presented findings from a comprehensive official study of women in Britain (originally published in 2002). Differences between men and women were getting smaller over a wide range of areas from employment to education and health. Women lived longer than men on average, although the gap was expected to narrow slightly over the next 25 years. There were more older women in the population: over 60 per cent of those aged 70 or over were women. Women s labour market participation had increased over recent years and their employment rates had risen, whereas men s participation in the labour market had declined slightly. Flexible working patterns had increased for both men and women, and around 6 million people in employment now worked flexibly. Girls performed better than boys in education and in getting qualifications. Educational performance of both boys and girls had improved in the late 1990s.
Source: Angelika Hibbett and Nigel Meager, 'Key indicators of women s position in Britain', Labour Market Trends, October 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf) | 2002 report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
A Labour Party think tank described the major social and economic trends expected over the period to 2020. These included a larger, older population; higher expectations of public services; a larger, more flexible, more highly trained workforce; pervasive information and communications technologies; a revolution in medicine; and the increased importance of consumer and social activism.
Source: Britain in 2020, Forethought/Labour Party (08705 900200)
Links: Report (pdf) | Introduction | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
A report was published analysing the 2001 Census data according to health authority area in England and Wales.
Source: Key Statistics for Health Areas in England and Wales, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
A think-tank report argued that there were two major social issues where the 'baby boomer generation' (those born in the period 1945-65) could rewrite the political agenda and cause problems for future governments. These were a failure to deal with increased expectations placed on quality and choice in public services, which baby boomers tended to view from the perspective of consumers rather than citizens; and nudging up the retirement age in the workplace without offering baby boomers greater flexibility in later life to re-adjust their work/life balance.
Source: Julia Huber and Paul Skidmore, The New Old: Why the baby boomers won t be pensioned off, Demos and Age Concern England, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Report (pdf) | Demos press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
The 2001 General Household Survey found that 37 per cent of people aged 65 and over in Great Britain lived alone;60 per cent said they had a longstanding illness, and 41 per cent said a longstanding illness limited their activities in some way.
Source: Press release 4.6.03, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
The first data set was published from the Millennium Cohort Study. The Study covered nearly 19,000 children from all parts of the United Kingdom, born over a period of 12 months from September 2000. Interviews with both parents took place between June 2001 and January 2003, documenting the diversity of circumstances in which the children's lives were beginning.
Source: Press release 16.6.03, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: ESRC press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A survey found that 10 per cent of people aged 60-74 living in private households (Great Britain: 2000) had a common mental disorder (such as anxiety, depression and phobias). Common mental disorders were strongly associated with disability - 37 per cent of people interviewed had difficulty with one or more of seven common activities of daily living (for example, personal care and household work).
Source: The Mental Health of Older People, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
Key statistics were published from the 2001 Census, analysed by each of the 8,875 wards and electoral divisions in England and Wales.
Source: Census 2001: Key Statistics for Wards in England and Wales, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Census webpage
Date: 2003-Jun
A report summarised the Census data available on housing and households, and brought together relevant Census data with data from a number of other survey and administrative sources.
Source: Housing and Households: 2001 Census and other sources, Housing Statistics Summary 16, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 4400)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-May
The Family Resources Survey for the period April 2001 to March 2002 was published (the ninth annual report). It summarised information on the incomes and circumstances of a sample of 25,320 private households in Great Britain. Information was set out in eight sections, covering the background to the survey; household characteristics; income and state support receipt; tenure and housing costs; assets and savings; carers; occupation and employment; and methodological aspects of the survey.
Source: Family Resources Survey 2001-02, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7962 8991)
Links: FRS homepage | Press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-May
Detailed results were published from the 2001 Census of England and Wales. The Census found marked contrasts in wealth and health between different areas.
Source: Press release 13.2.03, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Census website | ONS press release (pdf) | Independent article
Date: 2003-Feb
Research found that class polarities, relative poverty and social exclusion have all increased over the last 50 years - despite better educational opportunities, improved health and rising standards of living. (The research was based on the British Birth Cohort Studies, which have been following everyone born in England, Scotland and Wales in one week in 1946, 1958 and 1970.)
Source: Elsa Ferri, John Bynner and Michael Wadsworth (eds.), Changing Britain, Changing Lives: Three generations at the turn of the century, Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: Press release | Extract (Guardian) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Feb
The first Expenditure and Food Survey was published, for 2001-02 (the survey was launched in April 2001 and replaces the Family Expenditure Survey and the National Food Survey). Average household weekly expenditure ranged from 127 for the lowest decile group to 885 for the highest. For households in the lower half of the distribution, food and non-alcoholic drinks represented the largest single area of spending, followed by housing/fuel and power. For households in the upper half, the largest area of spending was transport, followed by recreation/culture.
Source: Bev Botting (ed.), Family Spending: A report on the 2001-2002 Expenditure and Food Survey, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jan
Statistics on the health of people in England in 2001 were published. A survey interviewed over 15,600 adults and nearly 4,000 children in private households The proportion of adults eating five or more fruit and vegetable portions a day increased steeply as household income increased. The proportion consuming five or more portions a day was lowest among those aged 16-24, and increased with age to a peak among those aged 55-64. 18 per cent of men and women aged 16 or over reported having one or more of five types of disability: 5 per cent of adults had a serious disability.
Source: Madhavi Bajekal, Paola Primatesta and Gillian Prior (eds.), Health Survey for England 2001, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/3, Digest 123, paragraph 12.4
Date: 2003-Jan
The 33rd edition of Social Trends was published, describing contemporary British society through a wide range of statistics. Half of the 310 tables, charts and maps were new compared with the previous edition.
Source: Carol Summerfield and Penny Babb (eds.), Social Trends 33: 2003 edition, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release (pdf) | Guardian report
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/3, Digest 123, paragraph 12.3
Date: 2003-Jan
The Equal Opportunities Commission published an annual compendium of statistics relating to the position of women and men in Great Britain.
Source: Facts about Women and Men in Great Britain 2003, Equal Opportunities Commission (0845 601 5901)
Links: Report (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 30/4, Digest 120, paragraph 11.1
Date: 2003-Jan
An annual survey of spending patterns found that more people see owning a home as a priority than having a pension or medical insurance.
Source: British Lifestyles 2003, Mintel (020 7606 6000) | The Guardian, 29.1.03
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jan
The latest issue of Transport Trends was published (an overview and analysis of trends in transport and travel in Great Britain over the past twenty years). Road use has increased by 73 per cent over the period, and petrol prices have increased more slowly than either bus or rail fares.
Source: Transport Trends 2002, Department for Transport (020 7944 3098)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-Jan