Our latest study of British public opinion and voting which took place between 25 and 29 March reveals:
- 57% of people in Britain support the idea of a vaccine passport for domestic use and entry to venues like cinemas or stadiums, while 30% oppose. Younger people are much more likely to oppose the idea, with 42% of 18–34-year-olds saying so, compared to just 16% of 65+.
- 63% support a vaccine passport to allow overseas travels into and out of the UK this summer and 26% oppose. 80% of 65+ are in favour, compared to just 51% of 18-24-year-olds.
- Half of people in Britain think that the vaccine should be compulsory for all adults (51%, +7 vs February)* – with 61% of 65+ saying so, compared to 43% of 18-34s.
- Just one in ten (12%, -2) of people say they definitely/probably would not plan to be vaccinated, down from 23% in December 2020.
Older people more likely to support interventions to tackle COVID-19
- Older people in Britain are much more in favour of compulsory vaccination for adults and “vaccine passports” to allow overseas travel and entry to venues such as stadiums and cinemas than younger people.
- Despite being less likely to back vaccine passports, younger people are also more likely to think that the government are adjusting restrictions to everyday life too slowly – 37% of 18-34-year-olds say so, compared to 18% of 65+ and the overall average in Britain of 28%.
- 18% of 18-34s say they definitely/probably would not plan to be vaccinated, compared to only 8% of 55-64s.
Public view of government’s interventions to improve women’s safety
Half of the public (49%) feel the government is doing too little to help women feel safe in public places, with women more likely to say so than men (54% vs 42%). Only 22% think the government is doing enough. Younger people are more likely to think the government is doing “too little”, with 59% of 18-24s saying this.
39% think that the government is doing too little to help women feel safe when they use online platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. Women are also more likely to think this than men (42% vs 36%) and younger people are more likely than older people to say the government is doing too little: 47% of 18-34-year-olds, compared to 36% of people aged 35+.
Improved economic outlook?
This month’s research shows some signs of household-level economic optimism:
- Nearly a third of people think that the economy will be doing better in 12 months’ time (32%, +9), while one in four think it will be worse (26%, -4) and 42% think it will stay the same (-6).
- Compared to 39% in January, now one in four (26%) say it is harder for them to meet their monthly household budget than it was 12 months ago, the same figure as February. Six in ten say it is about the same (60%, -4 compared with February) and 14% say it is easier (+4).
- Compared to 38% in January, now less than one in three of those in work (30%) say that their job feels “less secure compared to a year ago”: the same as February. This is the lowest figure since the beginning of the pandemic in the UK in March 2020 (26%).
- Fewer people now report that coronavirus has reduced their personal income: 33%, compared to 35% in February and 42% in January.
Attitudes towards the government handling of the pandemic and the vaccination
Satisfaction levels with government’s handling of the pandemic are improving:
- More than three quarters of people (78%, +2) say they are very/somewhat satisfied with the vaccine rollout organised by government and health authorities.
- 48% of people think that the government are handling the COVID-19 outbreak very/fairly well (+3), while 46% (nc) think the government has handled the outbreak poorly. This is the first time that more people are positive than negative since May 2020.
- 60% rate the government positively (very good/fairly good) in terms of how they are communicating information about the coronavirus outbreak (+6 vs last month).
However, as vaccine supply tensions with the European Union continue, less than one in three (31%) people rate the cooperation between countries globally in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak as very/fairly good. This is a drop from when this question was previously asked in May 2020, when 49% in Britain stated that the cooperation was very/fairly good.**
Voting intentions
- Con 42% (+2 vs February 2021)
- Lab 34% (+1)
- L Dem 9% (-2)
- SNP 7% (+3)
- Green 4% (-2)
- Reform UK (formerly Brexit Party) 2% (-1)
- Plaid Cymru 1% (nc)
- UKIP 1% (-1)
- Other 1% (nc)
Methodological information
The survey data and further details on the methodological approach can be found here. A total of 1,102 interviews were conducted online among adults living in Great Britain between 25 and 29 March 2021. All interviews were conducted as online self-completion. The Kantar online access panel was the main sample source.
The data was weighted to match population totals for age, gender, 2019 General Election voting patterns, 2016 EU referendum voting patterns, education, region, and likelihood to vote in the next General Election. Any use of this research must cite Kantar as the source.
* Kantar Public study of 1,114 adults between 18 – 22 February 2021.
