Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: 1 to 12 November 2023

The following information is for the latest survey period 1 to 12 November 2023, based on adults in Great Britain.

• Among those who had tried to contact their GP in the last month, 35% reported that it was very difficult or difficult making contact; this was 31% during the period 22 March to 2 April 2023, when the data were first collected.

• Around half (52%) of adults reported that their cost of living had increased compared with a month ago; this has decreased from around 4 in 5 (77%) adults during a similar period one year ago (26 October to 6 November 2022).

• More than 9 in 10 (91%) adults who reported their cost of living had increased compared with one month ago reported the price of their food shop had increased, around two-thirds (66%) reported the price of their fuel had increased, while 66% reported their gas or electricity bills had increased.

• When asked about what people are doing because of the increases in the cost of living, 64% said they were spending less on non-essentials, around half of all adults (48%) were shopping around more, 49% of adults were using less fuel such as gas or electricity in their homes, and around 4 in 10 (41%) were spending less on food shopping and essentials.

• Among those who are currently paying rent or a mortgage, 35% reported finding it very or somewhat difficult affording these payments; this was 37% during a similar period one year ago (26 October to 6 November 2022).

• Among those who pay energy bills, around 4 in 10 (38%) adults reported it being very or somewhat difficult to afford them; this is down from 47% during a similar period one year ago (26 October to 6 November 2022).

We also asked adults about their awareness, opinions and expectations about artificial intelligence (AI).

• When asked how often they could recognise when they are using AI, 15% of adults said they could often or always recognise it, while 16% reported they can never recognise when they are using it.

• When asked about their thoughts on the benefits and risks of AI, almost half (46%) of adults reported equal benefits and risks, while 26% reported more risks than benefits.

• Around 4 in 10 (38%) adults strongly agreed or agreed that AI will benefit them, however, around half (47%) neither agreed nor disagreed.

This release contains data and indicators from the Office for National Statistics' (ONS's) Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN).

From the 16 June 2023 release onwards, we have made changes that reduce the scope of the release and accompanying datasets. This is based on a routine review of the relevance and usefulness of this release.

Breakdowns by age and sex are no longer provided for fortnightly estimates in the latest Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain datasets. All previous versions of the dataset remain available from this page. Estimates from the OPN by these and other personal characteristics will continue to be provided on a regular basis in other ONS releases. For example, OPN estimates relating to the impact of the cost of living among different sub-groups of the population are provided within the regular Impact of increased cost of living on adults across Great Britain series.

Confidence intervals are provided for all estimates in the datasets. Where changes in results from previous weeks are presented in this release, or comparisons between estimates are made, associated confidence intervals should be used to assess the statistical significance of the differences.

Sampling and weighting

In the latest period (1 to 12 November 2023), we sampled 4,979 households. This sample was randomly selected from people who had previously completed the Labour Market Survey (LMS) or OPN. The responding sample for the latest period contained 2,370 individuals, representing a 47.6% response rate.

Survey weights were applied to make estimates representative of the population (based on ONS population estimates). Further information on the survey design and quality can be found in our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey Quality and Methodology Information (QMI).