The NatCen Blog

Here we’ll be talking about our research in the context of the latest news, opinion and
analysis through comments from our team of experts. We’d love to hear from you, so post comments or get in touch with us.

To keep up-to-date with our latest blog posts and reports, subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

Posted on 22 January 2020 by Guy Goodwin, Chief Executive

How is life in Britain looking as we enter the 2020s?

Guy Goodwin considers some of the key long-term trends facing politicians and policymakers, ten years on from the 40th and last printed version of the compendium Social Trends.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: Public trust, Social Trends, Society Watch, inequality, life expectancy, social and political attitudes
Posted on 13 January 2020 by Bernard Steen, Senior Researcher

What is driving antibiotic over-prescription in the UK?

Public concern about drug-resistant infections is high, but what is driving the over-prescription of antibiotics? Are cautious GPs writing unnecessary prescriptions, or do they feel under pressure from patients who might be misinformed? The fourth wave of the Wellcome Monitor offers new insights into this pressing issue.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: GPs, NHS, antibiotics, health, healthcare
Posted on 14 November 2019 by Nancy Kelley, Deputy Chief Executive

Higher or lower? The country is divided on changing the voting age

The Labour Party’s attempt to amend the Parliamentary General Election Act of 2019 and extend the franchise just weeks before an election caused a resurgence of interest in whether 16 and 17 year olds should be allowed to vote.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: British Social Attitudes, voting age
Posted on 06 September 2019 by Joseph Cant, Researcher

Can social housing continue to support the homeless?

It has been 100 years since the Addison Act, the landmark bill which saw the large-scale national expansion of public housing just after World War I. A lot has changed over the last century, but the social rented sector continues to be an important tenure option. This blog looks at the role of social housing in context of the homelessness crisis and what might happen if current tenure trends continue.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: English Housing Survey, homelessness, housing, renting
Posted on 15 August 2019 by Miranda Phillips, Research Director

With growing waiting times for GP appointments, are AandE services under pressure?

While most people who go to A&E have an urgent medical problem, NHS data suggests that 15% of A&E use is not medically urgent. The issue of ‘over-use’ of emergency health services is an ongoing concern for both NHS providers and policymakers - and is also shared by the public.
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: British Social Attitudes, GPs, healthcare
Posted on 17 July 2019 by Melanie Doyle, Research Director

Private renters and savings: Are private renters ready to buy?

Private renters make up around a fifth of all households in England – around 4.5 million households in total – and this sector is traditionally viewed as a transition into home ownership. But how well do this group’s savings reflect their buying aspirations?
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: English Housing Survey, home ownership, housing, renting
Posted on 11 July 2019 by Nancy Kelley, Deputy Chief Executive

Over the rainbow?

It’s Pride month, our timelines are full of rainbows, and this week Westminster voted to extend same sex marriage rights to Northern Ireland. So are we really getting less tolerant of lesbian and gay relationships?
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: British Social Attitudes, LGBT, diversity, relationships
Posted on 05 April 2019 by Svetlana Speight, Research Director

Gender gaps in how parents spend their time: do we see a trend towards more equality?

It is a well-documented fact that men are more likely to be in paid employment and to work full-time, while women take on more responsibilities around childcare and the housework. These unequal divisions of paid and unpaid work can affect job opportunities for women and men and result in long-term effects on earnings. As the UK prepares to examine results of this year’s gender pay gap submissions from private and public sector organisations, are we moving at all towards gender equality in home life?
Read the rest of this entry

Tags: gender equality, gender pay gap, parental time use
Posted on 15 March 2019 by Hannah Morgan, Senior Researcher

Public trust in official statistics

While there may be concerns around the levels of public trust in institutions and experts, both in the UK and worldwide, the British public still trust the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and believe in the independent nature and accuracy of the official statistics they produce. The latest figures also show an increase in public trust, albeit from a much lower base, in how the media and the government use official statistics.
Read the rest of this entry
Posted on 07 March 2019 by Fatima Husain, Researcher

My career as a social researcher

Fatima Husain was born in Karachi, Pakistan. She left at the age of six and moved from country to country, eventually arriving in the UK around 20 years ago – a long time for her, and breaking a previous record of eight years in the USA. She is a single parent with a daughter, a 20 year old undergraduate studying Physics, and a son, 17, who is supposed to be revising for his A levels. After over 20 years in social research, Fatima is now the interim head of the children and families team at The National Centre for Social Research.
Read the rest of this entry