Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: March 2025

The following information is from data collected from 5 to 30 March 2025, based on adults in Great Britain.

• When asked about the important issues facing the UK today, the most commonly reported issues were the cost of living (87%), the NHS (83%), and the economy (72%).

• Around 2 in 3 adults (66%) reported that their cost of living had increased in the last month; this proportion has been increasing since 5 to 28 July 2024 (45%) and is now at similar levels to May 2023 (67%).

The following information is from data collected from 8 January to 30 March 2025, based on adults in Great Britain.

• Older adults (aged over 50 years) were more likely to report issues such as the NHS, economy, crime, and immigration as important issues facing the UK today, whilst younger adults (aged under 50 years) were more likely to report the cost of living and housing.

• Around 1 in 4 adults (23%) reported that they would be unable to pay an unexpected but necessary expense of £850; those more likely to report this included those paying rent to the council or housing association (66%), and households with a single adult and at least one dependent child (64%).

• Around 1 in 33 (3%) adults reported that they had run out of food and were unable to buy more in the past two weeks; increasing to 20% for households with a single adult and at least one dependent child, and 14% for adults paying rent to the council or housing association.

• Disabled adults were more likely than non-disabled adults to carry out a range of actions we asked about because of their increased cost of living; this included using less fuel in their home (49% compared with 37%) and spending less on food shopping and essentials (48% compared with 36%).

In the latest period (5 to 30 March 2025), the cost of living (87%) and the NHS (83%) remain the two most reported important issues facing the UK (Figure 1). The proportion of adults reporting the NHS as an important issue has generally remained stable since October 2022 (82%). The proportion of adults reporting the cost of living as an important issue gradually decreased to 87% in December 2023 and has remained relatively stable since.

Figure 1: The NHS, the cost of living, and the economy have been the most commonly reported important issues facing the UK since October 2022

Proportion of adults reporting each important issue, Great Britain, October 2022 to March 2025

Notes:

1. Respondents could select more than one option. 

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Using a pooled dataset covering 8 January to 30 March 2025, we can explore in greater detail what different age groups thought were the important issues facing the UK.

The cost of living and the NHS were the two most reported issues for all age groups. The cost of living was the most reported important issue for those aged 16 to 29 years (90%) and those aged 30 to 49 years (89%); whilst the NHS was the most reported for those aged 50 to 69 years (88%) and those aged 70 years and over (89%).

Figure 2: Younger adults (aged under 50 years) were more likely to report the cost of living and housing as important issues facing the UK today than older adults (aged over 50 years)

Proportion of adults reporting each important issue by age, Great Britain, 8 January to 30 March 2025

Notes:

1. Respondents could select more than one option. 
2. Data covers the pooled period from 8 January to 30 March 2025, therefore estimates will be different to the monthly estimates in March.

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Breakdowns by further groups of the population are available in our accompanying datasets, covering the first quarter (January to March 2025). The next quarterly dataset covering April to June 2025 will be published in July 2025.

In March 2025 (period 5 to 30 March 2025), around 2 in 3 adults (66%) reported that their cost of living had increased in the last month; a rise from 59% in February 2025. This proportion has been increasing since a low of 45% between 5 to 28 July 2024 and is now at a similar level to 17 to 29 May 2023 (67%).

Around 1 in 3 adults (33%) reported that their cost of living had stayed the same and 1% said it had decreased in the last month.

Using the pooled dataset covering 8 January to 30 March 2025, we explore how different groups of the population are affected by the increased cost of living.

A number of affordability measures have improved when compared with last year (4 January to 24 March 2024): 

• around 1 in 3 (34%) adults reported they would be unable to save any money in the next 12 months (compared with 37% last year)

• around in 1 in 4 (23%) adults reported they would be unable to pay an unexpected but necessary expense of £850 (compared with 28% last year)

• around 1 in 5 (20%) adults reported that they had borrowed more money in the past month compared with a year ago (compared with 23% last year)

• Around 1 in 20 (5%) adults reported they had been unable to pay a bill or standing order in the past month (compared with 7% last year)

However, certain groups of the population appeared more affected than others when looking at the main affordability measures.

Age

Those aged 30 to 49 years were more likely than those aged 16 to 29 years, 50 to 69 years, and 70 years and over to report being unable to pay a necessary expense of £850 (28% compared with 23%, 23%, 15%, respectively).

Adults aged 30 to 49 years were also more likely to borrow more money than usual than any other age group (28% compared with 21%,17% and 9%).

Those aged 30 to 49 years (7%), along with those aged 16 to 29 years (6%) were more likely to report being unable to pay a bill or standing order in the past month than those aged 50 to 69 years (4%) and 70 years and over (1%).

Figure 4: Adults aged 30 to 49 years were more likely than any other age group to report being unable to pay a necessary expense of £850

Proportion of adults reporting difficulties with affordability, Great Britain, 8 January to 30 March 2025.

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Disability

Adults with a disability were more likely than those without a disability to report that they:

• were unable to save any money in the next 12 months (44% compared with 29%)

• were unable to pay a necessary but unexpected expense of £850 (34% compared with 18%)

• had borrowed more money in the last month compared with a year ago (25% compared with 19%)

• were unable to pay a bill or standing order in the previous month (9% compared with 3%)

They were also more likely to report a range of actions as a result of cost of living increases (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Disabled adults were more likely than non-disabled adults to carry out a range of actions to help with increased cost of living

Proportion of disabled and non-disabled adults reporting actions taken due to the increases in the cost of living, Great Britain, 8 January to 30 March 2025

Notes:

1. Respondents could select more than one option.

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Parents

Parents were more likely than non-parents to be unable to pay a necessary but unexpected expense of £850 (33% compared with 21%) and to borrow more money than usual in the last month (34% compared with 17%).

Households with a single adult and at least one dependant child were more likely than households with more than a single adult and at least one dependant child to report that they had run out of food and were unable to buy more in the past two weeks (20% compared with 2%). They were also more likely to report:

• being unable to pay a necessary but unexpected expense of £850 (64% compared with 27%)

• borrowing more money than usual in the last month (49% compared with 26%)

• being unable to pay a bill or standing order (27% compared with 4%)

Households with a single adult and at least one dependant child were more likely than households with more than one adult and at least one dependant child to report the following because of increases in their cost of living:

• spending less on food shopping and essentials (58% compared with 42%)

• using less fuel in their home (47% compared with 32% )

• using credit more than usual (35% compared with 18%)

• using support from charities (17% compared with 2%)

Tenure

Renters were more likely than mortgage holders to report that they:

• would be unable to save any money in the next 12 months (46% compared with 29%)

• would be unable to pay an unexpected but necessary expense of £850 (51% compared with 20%)

• have been unable to pay a bill or standing order in the previous month (14% compared with 3%)

Renters were more likely than mortgage holders to run out of food and be unable to buy more in the past two weeks (10% compared with 2%).

Those paying rent to council or housing associations were more likely than those in private rented accommodation to report:

• being unable to pay a necessary but unexpected £850 expense (66% of those paying rent to council or housing associations compared with 43% of those in private rented accommodation)

• being unable to pay a bill or standing order in past month (20% compared with 11%)

• running out of food and be unable to buy more in the past two weeks (14% compared with 7%)

Figure 7: Renters were more likely to report being unable to afford an unexpected expense of £850 than mortgage holders

Proportion of adults reporting financial difficulty because of cost-of-living increases in the past month by tenure group, Great Britain, 8 January to 30 March 2025.

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Renters (39%) were more likely than mortgage holders (22%) to report that their rent or mortgage payments have gone up in the past six months, and were also more likely to find their payments very or somewhat difficult (41%) than mortgage holders (26%).

Renters were more likely than mortgage holders to report the following because of increases in their cost of living:

• spending less on food shopping and essentials (53% compared with 42%)

• using less fuel in their home (44% compared with 37%)

• using support from charities (7% compared with 1%)

However, mortgage holders (46%) were more likely to report that they had shopped around more when compared with those who rent (40%).

Earlier this month we also published data on elections and floods. More information can be found on our website.

Disability status

To define disability, we refer to the Government Statistical Service (GSS) harmonised "core" definition of disability. This identifies "disabled" as a person who has a physical or mental health condition or illness that has lasted, or is expected to last, 12 months or more that reduces their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. Respondents are asked the GSS harmonised questions in the survey, meaning that disability status is self-reported.

Parental status and household composition

In the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN), an adult is defined as a parent if they are the parent of a dependent child living in the household. In this case, dependent children include children and stepchildren.

A dependent child is someone aged under 16 years, or someone who is aged 16 to 18 years, has never been married, and is in full-time education.

The analysis in this bulletin is based on adults aged 16 years and over in Great Britain.

In the latest period, 5 to 30 March, we sampled 9,529 households. This sample was randomly selected from people who had previously completed the Labour Market Survey (LMS) or Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN). The responding sample for the latest period contained 4,295 individuals, representing a 45% response rate.

In the pooled period, 8 January to 30 March, we sampled 28,049 households. This sample was randomly selected from people who had previously completed the LMS or OPN. The responding sample for the latest period contained 11,894 individuals, representing a 42% response rate.

Survey weights were applied to make estimates representative of the population, based on our population estimates. Estimates for some groups of the population may be subject to greater uncertainty because of smaller sample sizes for these groups (for example, younger adults).

For all estimates in the datasets, confidence intervals are provided. Where comparisons between estimates are made, associated confidence intervals should be used to assess the statistical significance of the differences. In some cases, additional statistical hypothesis testing was performed to identify differences between groups.

Further information on the survey design and quality can be found in our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey Quality and Methodology Information (QMI).