Public sees claimants that are new to the benefits system during Covid-19 as ‘more deserving’ and ‘less blameworthy’ than those who claimed pre-pandemic

New research also finds that people's attitudes to claimants, while softening during the first and second waves of the pandemic, rebounded to almost pre-pandemic levels following the lockdowns

The public sees those who have claimed benefits for the first time during the Covid-19 pandemic as much more deserving and less blameworthy than those who claimed pre-pandemic, according to a new report from Welfare at a (Social) Distance.

In Solidarity in a crisis? Trends in attitudes to benefits during COVID-19, Welfare at a (Social) Distance - a national research project investigating the benefits system during the Covid-19 pandemic - examines how the pandemic has affected public opinion on welfare benefits.

In particular, the report highlights the results of a nationally representative survey carried out in June 2021 that show that -

• half of the respondents (50.6 per cent) think that Covid-19 claimants are more likely than pre-pandemic claimants to be deserving (with only a small minority saying that Covid-19 claimants are less likely to be deserving);
• people are more than twice as likely to say that pre-pandemic claimants are to blame for being unable to find a job compared to Covid claimants, and more than three times as likely to say that pre-pandemic claimants are to blame for losing their jobs; and
• when asked about a hypothetical claimant, people were nearly twice as likely to say that a pre-pandemic claimant was at least a little to blame for being out of work compared to a Covid claimant.

In addition, the report finds that people's attitudes to welfare claimants, while softening during the first and second waves of the pandemic, rebounded to almost pre-pandemic levels following the lockdowns, and that while there is evidence of greater support for more generous benefits, it is only if framed as Covid-related (such as the £20 universal credit ‘uplift’).

The report suggests however that this greater public support for more generous benefits if linked to Covid-19 could be exploited, providing opportunities to help influence policymakers to make the benefits system more generous overall.

Joint project lead and Reader at the University of Kent Dr Ben Baumberg Geiger said today -

‘It would be easy to conclude that despite Covid-19, the public has little appetite for a more generous welfare system - but this would be wrong. Before the pandemic, attitudes had become more pro-welfare than the UK has seen in 20 to 30 years, and support for more generous benefits is even higher if this is linked to Covid-19. Public attitudes depend on how politicians talk about welfare, which means that the impact of Covid-19 on welfare attitudes and policies is all to play for.’

For more information, see Attitudes to benefits during Covid-19 and Covid-19 welfare claimants are seen as more deserving of support.