Aspiration nation
What do Britons want from life? What is the ‘British dream’?
During the Coronavrius pandemic, Conservative MP Justine Greening speculated that, at some point, people “would move on from ‘getting by’ to ‘getting on’”. This was consistent with her advocacy of social mobility; in 2018, she said “You can have a career, but…it’s nearly impossible to get on the property ladder. Lack of social mobility is endemic.”
Eight years on, millions of Britons are still getting by (or trying to) rather than getting on. Aspiration has taken a back seat. Our expectations have shifted. According to a poll this year by Ipsos, Britons are more likely to disagree than agree that ‘Young people in my country today will have a better life than their parents’ and ‘Young people in my country have a bright future’.
Colleagues in Canada have identified a mindset shift; people are living in an ‘endurance economy’. The cost of living — affordability — isn’t seen as a ‘crisis’ any more with a defined endpoint. Instead, it is increasingly seen as a chronic condition, caused by structural rather than cyclical forces. A permanent, not temporary situation. Hopeless.
Dare to dream?
Public attitudes, and the political strategies that respond to them, are shaped by multiple forces but three stand out — aspiration, fairness, and identity. These cover the fundamentals of political economy — what people want, who should and does get what, who ‘they’ are and how they see themselves (compared to others). The three forces overlap and often collide.
Politicians can lean into one or the other of the three, but they take fewer risks if their focus doesn’t come at the expense of others. As an example, Margaret Thatcher’s signature Right to Buy policy appealed to aspiration among council tenants during the 1980s, based on an appeal to individualism and choice. It was only fair that people had a ‘right’ to purchase their homes from the state.
Tony Blair’s New Labour put improved public services at the heart of “things can only get better” alongside pledges to improve ‘your’ prosperity and prospects through business-friendly policies and interventions to secure social justice (fairness) such as the Minimum Wage.
Theresa May used a party conference speech in 2017 to promise to restore what she called the “British Dream” (around the time Justine Greening lamented the lack of social mobility). But what do we dream of? In a BBC article soon after May’s speech, Professor Pamela Cox, social historian at the University of Essex, contrasted the American Dream which holds that ‘anyone can make it’ with a more mean-spirited British one; not everyone should make it.
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Of our three forces, perhaps Americans sit more squarely behind aspiration while Britons lean towards fairness. Identity fluctuates everywhere, shaped by particular issues and situations, animated by ‘culture wars’ and ‘othering’.
Bleak house
Professor Cox described the British Dream as “a phrase that doesn’t roll off the tongue like the American Dream” and identified three components; home ownership, having a secure job and a living standard higher than your parents.
These found echoes in Ipsos’ “Life Aspirations” study this year. Across 30 countries, people defined a successful life as firmly anchored in financial security, employment and housing, something unsurprising given current economic uncertainty and cost-of-living pressures (‘endurance’ again). It also established Britons as more likely to consider home ownership as a sign of success than people in 29 other countries.
Most Britons believe that getting on the property ladder is one of the most important ways of getting on in life. Around three-quarters agree that young people will struggle to find the right kind of housing, even if they work hard and secure a good job. Roughly six in ten private renters believe they will NEVER be able to afford to buy a home.
The desire to own a home has increased since the 1980s, likely reflecting how much harder it has become. Something else has changed over this time. Earlier this year, half as many agreed than in 1989 that in this country, the best people get to the top whatever start they’ve had in life.
Hope (for a first home) again
Just as Andy Burnham’s first day as PM started with a pledge to end rough sleeping, his first party conference as leader (taking place under the banner ‘Hope again’) began with a housing policy. The “Your First Home” policy is designed to help first-time buyers in England struggling to raise a deposit.
While likely to face the sort of criticism from the Conservatives that they faced from Labour about the Help To Buy scheme, the policy sits well alongside reforms to planning to unlock supply, and the Renters Rights Act (both introduced by Sir Keir Starmer’s Government).
At a stroke, Labour seems to be moving towards Zohran Mamdani’s approach in New York. It recognises that efforts to improve housing requires an effective partnership between state and market forces, a plan that balances demand and supply, affordability, fairness and aspiration.
On housing, as much else, Government needs to help people get by and to get on.
