Britons remain pessimistic about the economy as cost-of-living pressures persist

26 March 2025, London

Verian’s latest political opinion research finds that Britons remain pessimistic about the economy, with almost two thirds saying the economy is doing worse than a year ago (64%), and a majority (57%) think it will decline  further over the next 12 months. Against this backdrop, cost-of-living pressures persist with 65% saying they are finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget than a year ago, and reducing the cost of living remains the public’s top priority for government (47% chose it as one of the three most important priorities). 

Verian’s research took place between 20th and 23rd March 2026, using our Public Voice random sample panel. Our restrictive method of panel-building provides benefits in terms of sample and data quality when compared to many other panels used in the UK for polling.  

General Election voting intentions (20-23 March 2026):

• Reform UK 25% (-2 compared with December 2025¹) 
• Green 20% (+7) 
• Conservative 18% (-3) 
• Labour 15% (-3) 
• Liberal Democrats 14% (-1) 
• SNP 2% (-1) 
• Other 7% (+4)

Support for the leading parties varies by age and gender:

• Reform UK performs most strongly among those aged 45-54 (29%) and those aged 55 to 64 (39%).
• The Green party performs most strongly among women (23%) and younger adults, including those aged 18 to 24 (45%) and 25 to 34 (32%).
• Among those aged 65 and over, the Conservatives lead (28%), narrowly ahead of Reform UK on 26%.  

Economic outlook

• Almost two thirds (64%) think the economy is doing worse than a year ago (+1 compared with our December 2025 poll), a third (31%) think it is doing much the same (-3), and only 5% think it is doing better (+1). 
• Looking ahead, more than half expect the economy to be doing worse in a year’s time than it is now (57%, +10). Meanwhile, 37% expect the economy to be doing much the same as it is now (-10), and only 6% expect the economy to be doing better than it is now (no change).  

• Almost two thirds (65%) are finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget than a year ago (+2 compared with December) 
• A third (32%) are finding it about the same (-2), and  
• Only 3% are finding it easier (+1). 

• 85% say the economy is doing worse compared to a year ago, and 74% say they are finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget, compared to a year ago.  
• By contrast, among 2024 Labour voters, 45% say the economy is worse than a year ago and 42% expect it to be worse in a year’s time, while 56% say they are finding it harder to meet their monthly household budget.

Key policy issues 

When asked to select the three most important issues for the UK government to tackle to improve public life, the most important issues are: 

• Reducing the cost of living for households (47%, +5 compared with December 2025²)  
• Investing more in NHS capacity (38%, no change)  
• Stricter border controls to reduce immigration (33%, -3)  
• Growing the UK’s economy (27%, -1)  
• Reducing crime (18%, -5)  
• Affordable Housing (18%, -3%)  

• Ensuring there won’t be energy (gas/electricity) shortages (17%, +11%)

Methodological information

A total of 1,236 interviews were conducted online among adults living in Great Britain between the afternoon of the 20th and morning of 23rd March 2026. The survey data tables and further details on the methodological approach and weighting will be published on the Verian website by 26th March 2026. 

Our sample was drawn from Verian’s random sample panel Public Voice. This panel is used extensively for social research commissioned by government, academic and third sector organisations, including those based in the US and Europe. Membership of this panel is restricted to those living in a controlled sample of UK addresses drawn from the Royal Mail’s master database. This restrictive method of panel-building is relatively expensive but will ordinarily provide benefits in terms of sample and data quality when compared with a panel that any adult resident in the UK can join. Although the short-period fieldwork web-only protocol used for this poll is much more limited than is typical for a social research survey, the demographic and political composition of the sample is only modestly degraded compared to what could be obtained using the full social research data collection protocol (two to three weeks using both web and telephone interview modes). 

The data was weighted to match population totals for age, gender, 2024 General Election voting patterns, education, region, and likelihood to vote in the next General Election.  

For this poll, “Reform UK” and “Green Party” were included on the first screen of the voting intention question. Previously, Reform UK” and “Green Party” were included on a second screen, with the first screen including the following other code – “Other party or individual (such as Reform UK or the Green Party)”. We intend to keep this approach consistent going forwards. 

Notes

For further information on any of the data and findings from the report please contact PressEnquiries@veriangroup.com