Older Britons are more fed up with the “broken” economic system and want radical change than Gen Z voters, according to new polling.
Figures from Apella, an advisory firm, found rising “middle-aged misery” over the state of the economy in polling carried out after the November budget.
Of the respondents, 45 per cent of voters aged 56-64 agreed with the proposition that “the whole economic system is broken and needs to be replaced with a something different”. This compares with 34 per cent of those aged 18-29.
Older Britons are also more pessimistic about changing their economic fortunes, with higher proportions agreeing with the statement that “no matter how hard I work, the system is stacked against me”. Among those in the 40–54 age group, 59 per cent agreed, rising to 62 per cent for those aged 55-64. Just over half (51 per cent) of younger voters reported pessimism about the economic system.
Demands for radical economic change were most prevalent in voters who backed Reform UK at the last election — where 56 per cent said they supported an overhaul of the economic system. Just under half (49 per cent) of current Green Party voters agreed. The Greens, under their new leader Zack Polanski, have made a pitch for wealth taxes on the super-rich to pay for public services and reported a doubling in membership to over 150,000 late last year.
Labour voters were least likely to demand radical economic change — at only 18 per cent — while 30 per cent of those who voted Conservative thought the economic system should be replaced.
The polling was carried out in the first week of December, days after Rachel Reeves’s second budget.
• Tom Calver: We’ve long thought Britain is broken. In what way, we’re not sure
James Kirkup, a partner at Apella, said it was the parents of Gen Z “that are fed up with the economic status quo and demanding change”.
“Many people in their 40s and 50s feel they’ve worked hard for decades but aren’t seeing any rewards from that — the cost of living just keeps rising, and retirement seems a distant, grim prospect. Politicians and businesses worried about economic and political instability should be paying more attention to middle-aged misery.”