Coping classes
Get Adobe ReaderCoping classes
The financial crisis of 2008 and the severe recession that followed have scarred the UK’s financial psyche. Unemployment has risen. Earnings growth is modest. The housing market continues to stutter. An age of government austerity has descended. Meanwhile, the push of global commodity prices cuts thick slices off disposable incomes. In contrast to the pre-crunch “nice decade”, British households are now likely to face, in the words of the Governer of the Bank of England Mervyn King, a “sober decade”. While there is rightly much academic and political debate about the pain felt by lower-income households, the middle classes have not been immune either. The mass affluent are feeling less confident too and a raft of new pressures are emerging (tax increases, benefits cuts and spending squeezes, potential interest rate hikes...). Meanwhile, mortgages are still restricted, house prices are beyond the reach of many aspirant first time buyers and tuition fees will rise. While the credit crunch may have directly affected only specific groups, the “sober decade” will touch everyone.
Download the full report pdf 452 KB-
CHAPTER 1
Foreword from Friends Life
We are pleased to present the fourth report in our Visions of Britain 2020 series. Produced with the Future Foundation, the series examines how major challenges and opportunities facing people today are likely to shape British society throughout the decade.
Download this chapter pdf 40 KB Read now Back to Top -
CHAPTER 2
Foreword from the Future Foundation
The financial crisis of 2008 and the severe recession that followed have scarred the UK’s financial psyche.
Download this chapter pdf 39 KB Read now Back to Top -
CHAPTER 3
Executive summary
The Coping Classes are a group ripe for analysis. Often overlooked, they are nonetheless facing a great range of pressures on their household finances. Many of these pressures will remain or even intensify.
Download this chapter pdf 50 KB Read now Back to Top -
CHAPTER 4
The Coping Classes: who are they?
In this report we are looking at the story of the middle income – the subject of much social commentary in the pre-credit crunch years – and how they have coped over the last few years of economic turmoil as well as how they are likely to cope in the decade to come.
Download this chapter pdf 293 KB Read now Back to Top -
CHAPTER 5
-
CHAPTER 6
The Coping Classes: general financial pressures
Download this chapter pdf 106 KB Read now Back to Top -
CHAPTER 7
The Coping Classes: generational and family pressures
Download this chapter pdf 73 KB Read now Back to Top -
CHAPTER 8
-
CHAPTER 9
-
CHAPTER 10
The Coping Classes in 2020 – pen portraits
Here we envision three Coping Classes households living in 2020. We draw on the trends and findings of our quantitative research, expert interviews and Delphi panel to paint pictures of three households and the ways they are managing their finances and coping with financial pressures.
Download this chapter pdf 49 KB Read now Back to Top -
CHAPTER 11
Research Papers
- Pension Reform
- Working Women
- Coping classes
- Health & wellbeing
- Ageing & retirement
- Employment
Visions of Britain 2020 videos
See all videos
