The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) is Britain's leading independent social research organisation.

London
Joined March 2009
New analysis from @TheKingsFund, using data from NatCen's British Social Attitudes survey (BSA), explores how different generations view the NHS. We're delighted to see BSA findings contributing to this important conversation about the future of the NHS and public attitudes towards healthcare. Read the full report: Generational differences in attitudes towards the NHS | The King's Fund #BritishSocialAttitudes #BSA #NHS #SocialResearch #PublicOpinion
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๐ŸŽ™๏ธ In the latest episode of #Attitudes, Mark, @CurtisJessop and Professor Susan Banducci @femalebrain unpack European Social Survey data and the findings from our #BritishSocialAttitudes report on gender identity. They explore how men think about masculinity and whether this has changed for younger men today, and how these ideas influence politics and society more broadly. Listen now ๐Ÿ‘‡๐ŸŽง natcen.ac.uk/attitudes-mascuโ€ฆ
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๐—๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ฆ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—”๐˜๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐Ÿ“… ๐—ง๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐Ÿฑ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ | ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ.๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ-๐Ÿญ.๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฌ๐—ฝ๐—บ ๐Ÿ”— ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„: natcen.ac.uk/events/british-โ€ฆ What do people in Britain think about defence spending, national security, and the UK's role in the world? Join us for the launch of the latest findings from the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, Britain's longest-running measure of public opinion. At this online event, our expert speakers will explore new findings on public attitudes towards defence and national security, discussing what they reveal about the challenges facing the UK today and Britain's place on the global stage. We hope you can join us for what promises to be a timely and thought-provoking discussion. #BritishSocialAttitudes #BSA #Defence #NationalSecurity #PublicOpinion #SocialResearch #NatCenResearch #PolicyResearch #UKPolitics
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How have attitudes to work changed over the past decade, and what do those shifts tell us about the future of the UK labour market? Join NatCen and the @resfoundation on 3 November for a discussion of new findings from the latest British Social Attitudes Survey. We'll explore how major changes in the labour market, from the growth of flexible working and the gig economy to the impact of the pandemic, have influenced public attitudes towards work. The event will feature insights from @whatukthinks (NatCen and the University of Strathclyde), @sarahoconnor_(Financial Times) and @hcslaughter_ (Resolution Foundation), and will be chaired Ruth Curtice (Resolution Foundation). Attendees will have the opportunity to join in person or online and put questions to the panel. ๐Ÿ“… 3 November, 1.30pm-2.45pm ๐Ÿ“ In person and online ๐Ÿ”— Register here: resolutionfoundation.org/eveโ€ฆ #BritishSocialAttitudes #BSA #FutureOfWork #LabourMarket #PublicAttitudes #Research #Policy resolutionfoundation.org/eveโ€ฆ
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Public views on cannabis regulation have changed significantly over recent decades, but opinion remains complex and nuanced. Our latest ATTITUDES podcast digs into the evidence behind the debate, drawing on new findings from the British Social Attitudes survey. Host Mark Easton speaks with experts about what the data reveals, why attitudes are changing, and what questions remain for policymakers. Take a listen and let us know what you think. ๐ŸŽง Listen here: natcen.ac.uk/attitudes-cannaโ€ฆ #AttitudesPodcast #Cannabis #BSA #PublicAttitudes #Research #SocialPolicy #NatCen
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NatCen was delighted to attend both the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences this year, sharing insights from the latest 2026 British Social Attitudes survey. At Labour Conference, we partnered with @IPPR to host Welfare Under Fire: Understanding British Social Attitudes, exploring public views on welfare, living standards and public services. At Conservative Conference, we partnered with @WeAreBrightBlue to host The Future of Welfare: What Does the Public Want?, bringing together politicians, researchers and policy experts to discuss welfare reform, economic inactivity and public attitudes towards the welfare state. Thanks to all our speakers, partners and attendees for joining two thought-provoking discussions. Together, they highlighted the value of robust social research in informing public debate and policymaking. #BritishSocialAttitudes #PartyConference #PublicPolicy #SocialResearch #Welfare #NatCen ๐—ฅ๐˜ ๐—›๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ง๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐˜€ ๐— ๐—ฃ @stephenctimms, Minister for Equalities ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ง๐—ผ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ @pollytoynbee Columnist, The Guardian ๐—ฆ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—๐—ผ๐—ต๐—ป ๐—–๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ @whatukthinks, Senior Research Fellow, NatCen ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฃ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜€ @Henry_J_Parkes, Head of Work, Social Security and Living Standards, IPPR (Chair) ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—”๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ ๐—ฆ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป @amanda_spielman, Shadow Minister for Work & Pensions ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ @Helen_Barnard, Director of Policy, Research and Impact at the Trussell Trust. ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ ๐—™๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ @TaliFraser, Commissioning Editor, The Spectator (Chair) ๐—๐—ผ๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป ๐— ๐—ฃ, @JoePJRobertson Isle of Wight East ๐—ฅ๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ @RyanShorthouse, Executive Chair, Bright Blue ๐—”๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜… ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ @AlexScholes6, Research Director, Attitudinal Surveys and NatCen Opinion Panel
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๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ? In the latest episode of ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—œ๐—ง๐—จ๐——๐—˜๐—ฆ, @MarkEastonMedia unpacks the evidence behind shifting attitudes towards cannabis, exploring legalisation, perceived harms and the gap between public opinion and current policy. ๐ŸŽง Listen now: natcen.ac.uk/attitudes-cannaโ€ฆ #Cannabis #PublicOpinion #SocialResearch #Podcast
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We're proud to see the Independent Review into Mental Health Conditions, ADHD and Autism, chaired by Professor Peter Fonagy, draw extensively on evidence from two landmark studies delivered by NatCen: the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey and Mental Health of Children and Young People in England. Seeing robust, independent research contribute to such an important review demonstrates the value of high-quality social research in helping decision-makers better understand some of the most pressing issues facing society today. Thanks to our NatCen leads ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ ๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—บ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต and ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ต ๐— ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€, and to our collaborators at the @uniofleicester and @CityStGeorges whose expertise and partnership have made this work possible as well as to @NHSEngland, who commissioned both studies. ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„ - gov.uk/government/publicatioโ€ฆ ๐—”๐—ฃ๐— ๐—ฆ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜† - natcen.ac.uk/publications/adโ€ฆ ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—–๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—˜๐—ป๐—ด๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ - digital.nhs.uk/data-and-infoโ€ฆ #MentalHealth #ADHD #Autism #SocialResearch
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๐—”๐—œ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜†๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ. ๐—•๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. As new technologies become part of everyday life, people are weighing the potential benefits against concerns around privacy, fairness and accountability. The latest episode of ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—œ๐—ง๐—จ๐——๐—˜๐—ฆ examines how attitudes towards AI are evolving across different areas of society. ๐ŸŽง Listen now. natcen.ac.uk/attitudes-ai #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #PublicAttitudes #ATTITUDESPodcast #NatCen #SocialResearch
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๐—œ๐˜€ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ถ๐˜? Public confidence in higher education is shifting, with more people questioning whether university delivers value in its current form. In the latest episode of ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—œ๐—ง๐—จ๐——๐—˜๐—ฆ, Mark Easton @MarkEastonMedia explores what's behind these changing views and what they tell us about Britain's relationship with higher education. ๐ŸŽง Listen now: natcen.ac.uk/attitudes-univeโ€ฆ #HigherEducation #PublicAttitudes #Universities #ATTITUDESPodcast #NatCen
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Following the Prime Minister's announcement of a national commission on electoral reform, the UK's voting system is once again under scrutiny. NatCen's British Social Attitudes data shows support for electoral reform remains higher than at any point before 2021. Support peaked at 60% in 2024, in the immediate aftermath of the most disproportionate election result in modern British history, before easing to 53% in 2025. While opinion has cooled slightly over the last year, a majority of the public still favour changing the voting system, compared with 40% who support retaining First Past the Post. As the debate continues, the data offers an important benchmark for understanding how public attitudes towards electoral reform are evolving. Read the full report here: natcen.ac.uk/publications/bsโ€ฆ #BritishSocialAttitudes #ElectoralReform #Democracy #PublicOpinion #SocialResearch
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Introducing ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—œ๐—ง๐—จ๐——๐—˜๐—ฆ, NatCenโ€™s podcast series exploring the ideas, opinions and trends shaping Britain today through robust social research. Hosted by Mark Easton @MarkEastonMedia, Senior Fellow at NatCen and former BBC Home Editor, ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—œ๐—ง๐—จ๐——๐—˜๐—ฆ brings together expert insight, evidence and thoughtful discussion on the issues shaping our lives. ๐—˜๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„: ๐Ÿค– ๐—”๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ What does the public really think about AI? This episode explores attitudes towards the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence, and what they could mean for society, work and policymaking. ๐ŸŽ“ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ How do people view universities today? This episode examines public perceptions of higher education and the role universities play in Britain's future. Listen now here natcen.ac.uk/podcast or wherever you get your podcasts and discover what the evidence tells us about some of the biggest issues facing the UK today. #AttitudesPodcast #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #HigherEducation #Universities #SocialResearch #NatCen #Podcast
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๐Ÿ“ข New from our climate-health research: how do street vendors, porters and motorbike-taxi riders adapt to Vietnam's extreme weather? Dr Anh Vu's new paper finds that outdoor workers in urban Vietnam have built up sophisticated, practical and embodied knowledge for coping with climate-health risks โ€” knowledge that official heat and climate policy often overlooks. Working directly with vendors, porters, construction workers and motorbike-taxi riders across four Vietnamese cities, the research argues that adaptation policy needs to start from what these workers already know, not just top-down approaches. Part of our @wellcometrust funded project on climate-health risk among informal outdoor workers. Read the open-access paper in Global Environmental Change: sciencedirect.com/science/arโ€ฆ
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๐ŸŽ™๏ธComing soon: ATTITUDES A new podcast from NatCen exploring the ideas, opinions and trends shaping Britain today through the lens of robust social research. Hosted by Mark Easton, NatCen Senior Fellow and former BBC Home Editor, ATTITUDES brings together leading researchers and expert voices to unpack the evidence behind the headlines. From politics and public services to identity, values and social change, each episode explores what people in Britain really think and why it matters. ๐ŸŽง Look out for the first episode, coming soon wherever you get your podcasts. #AttitudesPodcast #SocialResearch #PublicAttitudes #EvidenceMatters #NatCen
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Supporting disabled employees to stay in work #NewResearch by NatCen for @acasorguk found that disability-related workplace conflict is often driven not by disability itself, but by how organisations respond to requests for support and adjustments.ย  Martin Mitchell, Senior Researcher at NatCen, explores the findings in more detail in this blog: acas.org.uk/supporting-disabโ€ฆ Read the full report at the link below.ย  โฌ‡๏ธ #DisabilityInclusion #WorkplaceWellbeing #Employment #SocialResearch #ResearchImpact
New Acas research found 68% of disabled people whose disability had a major impact on daily life reported workplace conflict, compared with 44% of working-age adults. Early conversations, support and reasonable adjustments can help. Read more: acas.org.uk/research-and-comโ€ฆ
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Thank you to everyone who joined us, both in person and online, for the ๐—ฆ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ฅ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ. A special thank you to @BobbyDuffyKings for his lecture, "๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐— ๐˜†๐˜๐—ต: ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—™๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐——๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ", which challenged common assumptions about generational divides and explored what the evidence really tells us about how different generations think and behave. We would also like to thank our chair, @LovisaMoller, for expertly guiding the discussion and helping to create an engaging and thought-provoking event for everyone in attendance. If you were unable to join us, you can watch the recording here: natcen.ac.uk/events/sir-rogeโ€ฆ Organised in partnership with @CityStGeorges, the Social Research Association and NatCen.
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Know an early career researcher making a difference in survey design, delivery or methodology? โฐ Nominations for the Survey Futures Early Career Impact Award has reopened until 21 Sept. Nominate them today. rss.org.uk/training-events/eโ€ฆ #SurveyResearch #EarlyCareerResearchers
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