Attitudes Towards Social RisksandSocial ProtectionintheUnitedKingdom Insights from theOECD Risks that Matter Survey Attitudes Towards SocialRisks and Social Protectionin the United Kingdom INSIGHTS FROM THE OECD RISKSTHAT MATTER SURVEY This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed andarguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD. This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty overany territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Photo credits:Cover © DrimaFilm/Shutterstock.com. Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/support/corrigenda.html.© OECD 2025 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. By using this work, you accept to be bound by the terms of this licence(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Attribution– you must cite the work.Translations– you must cite the original work, identify changes to the original and add the following text:In the event of any discrepancy between the original work and thetranslation, only the text of original work should be considered valid.Adaptations– you must cite the original work and add the following text:This is an adaptation of an original work by the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed inthis adaptation should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries.Third-party material– the licence does not apply to third-party material in the work. If using such material, you are responsible for obtaining permission from the third party and forany claims of infringement.You must not use the OECD logo, visual identity or cover image without express permission or suggest the OECD endorses your use of the work.Any dispute arising under this licence shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Arbitration Rules 2012. The seat of arbitration shallbe Paris (France). The number of arbitrators shall be one. Foreword The OECD Risks that Matter programme (https://oe.cd/rtm) is a key output from the2018OECD SocialPolicy Ministerial in Montréal, Canada. OECD Ministers called on the OECD to provide evidence that helpsthem better understand the social risks that people face, both real and perceived, and what people expectfrom their governments and social protection. In line with these goals, the OECD launched the Risks thatMatter (RTM) programme, under the supervision of the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee(ELSAC) and the Working Party on Social Policy (WPSP). The OECD Risks that MatterSurvey is the only regular cross-national survey focused on tracking people’sperceptions of the social and economic risks they face, how well they think their government addressesthose risks, and what preferences they have for social protection going forward. Conducted everytwoyears, the latest rounds of the survey cover 27OECDcountries spread across Europe, East Asia, andNorth and South America. This report is the latest output from the Risks that Matter programme. In addition to dedicated main findingsreports, key outputs from the programme include thematic Risks that Matter reports on issues includinggender, youth and the costs of living, as well as country and region Risks That Matter studies, including onFrance and on Latin America. Data fromOECD Risks that Matter have also been used as background inother OECD reports, and as indicators in OECD databases. As with all these outputs, the overarching goalof this report is to help governments better understand and respond to the lives lived by their citizens, tohelp ensure economic security, opportunities and growth. Acknowledgements This report was prepared in the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, under thesenior leadership of Stefano Scarpetta (Director), Mark Pearson (Deputy Director), and Monika Queisser(Senior Counsellor and Head of Social Policy). The project was supervised by Valerie Frey (SeniorEconomist). The report was written by Chris Clarke and Valerie Frey. The authors would like to thank Hanna Varkki,who prepared the report for publication and provided logistical and communications support, as well asMarie-Aurélie Elkurd. The authors would also like to thank colleagues from theUKDepartment for Workand Pensions (DWP)and participants at the Universityof Oxford Politics Research Colloquiumfor theircomments onthis report. The authors are grateful to theUKEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for the financial supportprovided for this report and theUnitedKingdom’s participation in the OECDRisks that Matter Survey. Table ofcontents 3 Foreword Acknowledgements mmary8 E