Saturday 27 June 2015

Saturday Evenings: Stay In, Sit Up and Switch On

Perception has been a powerful tool in our evolution as human beings. As a way to use our senses to understand the world it is one of those innate traits we can’t really do without. Sometimes, though, perception can be counter-productive and lead us down paths that sit at odds with our beliefs.

The other day I attended a one-day conference at which I joined a couple of headteachers in a discussion about what strategies we use to overcome barriers to the integration of students from non-British backgrounds when they re-locate to the UK. The debate was chaired by an outstanding expert in parental engagement and her knowledge and experience made the session lively and interactive. It was during one of the breaks, however, when with a cup of tea/coffee in hand, some of the delegates approached me to voice their opinions. Their real opinions, I mean. This was the moment when I thought of perception. Most of my fellow practitioners had similar doubts: how to counteract the negative impression that we have more children from overseas than there really are in the UK nowadays?

By chance, I had recently come across an article by Peter Kellner in Prospect magazine entitled: “The truth about welfare”. In it the thought-provoking columnist debunks some of the myths surrounding the way we perceive our benefits culture.

Peter is the President of YouGov, an internet-based market research firm. YouGov was founded by Stephan Shakespeare and Nadhim Zahawi, two men who have played a major role in politics, especially right-wing politics in recent years. It goes without saying that YouGov is as far from the stereotypical muesli-eating, sandal-wearing, beard-sporting Guardian-reading leftie as it is possible. Yet, Peter’s article was as surprising as it was honest.

First off, he acknowledged that there has been a disparity between data on welfare claimants and the public perception of it. In his own words: “the public’s misconceptions about welfare colour their views of the overall impact of the system”. Which can be translated as “easier to slag off those we deem skivers than to see each case on an individual basis”.


The real faces of the benefits culture (photo taken from mirror.co.uk)

The numbers tell their own story. Britain’s total welfare bill was £205bn between 2013 and 2014, almost a third of government spending. Yet, whilst the average voter in the recent general election thought that benefits for unemployed people were the biggest component of the bill, it was actually the smallest, at 2% of the whole whack. Most people put it at 34%. Same with so-called “welfare tourism”, claims by people who come from overseas. The figure is thought to be between 2 and 3%. Also, as noted in a recent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, immigrants are less likely to claim benefits. Still, the public perception is that the amount of foreigners “fleecing” the Exchequer is 23%. Disparity indeed.

What is going on, then? How come the former owner of the Conservative Home website, Stephan Shakespeare, and Stratford-on-Avon current Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi are debunking myths instead of slagging off “scroungers”?

My gut feeling is that this whole “strivers vs skivers” has gone too far. It was fine in the months leading up to the general election. It was useful for politicians of all parties (except, maybe for the Greens) to present scapegoats to the electorate so that they could direct their anger at these sacrificial lambs. But now with a Conservative government in number 10, the fact that the British people still thinks that there is a 22% of fraudsters who are fiddling the system (whether they are all concentrated at Westminster is not known, sadly) does not sit well with the tough image Prime Minister David Cameron wants to project to the UK and beyond. For another example, look at the way he wants to redefine child poverty.

My main concern in all this is that we are raising a new generation to hate one another. When I speak to people born and raised in the UK and the way this country was thirty years ago, they tell me about the breakdown in community spirit, about individualism taking over collective enterprise and about the creation of a “me, me, me” culture. The changes I am seeing now have as much of a detrimental effect as those of three decades ago. Even Tory pollsters seem to agree on that.



© 2015

Next Post: “Let’s Talk About…”, to be published on Wednesday 1st July at 6pm (GMT)

24 comments:

  1. For some reason, I can not get the video to play. Which stinks, as I enjoy The Muse and have not heard anything new by them in a while.

    Ha. It is interesting, the meeting after the meeting is always a bit more insightful. What people choose to back in public and private is often different. The 'invasion" of illegals here in the states is always a political point. And you find some pretty wild answers. I am not sure if you saw Donald Trumps rather racist comments the other day on it. Oy. The welfare culture - recent studies here I think put it at 34% of the population. I dont know how many are abusers of the system. I have known a few, eithr through working directly with the families for counseling or through the school system that were definitely abusers of the system.

    I think one of the challenges that we face in the schools here with a diverse population - and a growing population of ESL students, is the proper resources in which to provide them with an education. I have voiced this at least, as their acclamation to the English language is not keeping up with their studies and other classes, which makes it very difficult. I often have to use a translation app on my phone in order to communicate. Which can be difficult in a classroom of 32 students.

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  2. Sadly, our Government thrives on promoting these false impressions. And then bashing the skivers they have (falsely) identified. Welfare recipients and asylum seekers get short shrift here at the moment.
    Our treatment of the 'under-dogs' shames me.

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  3. Those are big disparities between reality and perception. Here in the US there are many false ideas about immigrants. Our agricultural sector could not operate without their cheap labor, yet there is the outcry that immigrants take away jobs from US citizens. Most US citizens wouldn't touch those jobs. Arggghhh. Immigration issues will play big in the next election, and I wonder how many untruths will be thrown around.

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  4. Say one thing and do another, same song they always sing. Me me me is the way society is now, sadly.

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  5. Great arguments and perspective. Politics strikes at the heart of everything and people believe what they want to believe -even with evidence that debunks their belief system.

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  6. VERY worthwhile reading!




    ALOHA
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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  7. The band has an interesting sound. This is about the third or fourth rock group I have encountered recently that I seem to have passed over or missed altogether .... time flies when you are listening to music. Thank you, for posting this song, CiL .... which reminds me, our old buddies in Def Leppard are coming to Saint Paul twice -- August and October. Love bites the Brits ….

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    1. The outro is out of this world. By pure chance I have just caught their performance at this year's Download Festival on Catch-up. Impressive.

      Greetings from London.

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  8. community spirit - i think most countries lack this nowadays - everyone seems a bit distrustful - not exactly knowing what the money is used for and if it's used in a good way - more transparency i guess would help

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  9. Mainstream media is partly to blame I think for allowing these stereotypes to remain or even confirming them with exaggerated or one-sided news articles.

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  10. I was unable to get the video clip to play. Sad, a bit of Glastonbury would have been nice to hear. Re politics, I tend to leave head in sand - at my age it's not worth getting het-up about anything. You put up a good case for thought, though.

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  11. Over on this side of the pond, the same is true. Politicians do try to make it look like welfare fraud is rampart (I think it is, but it is mostly corporate welfare!) and that foreigners (especially illegal aliens) are gaming the system. It keeps people from looking too closely at other issues.

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  12. the media have a huge amount to answer for.

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  13. Thank you all for your kind comments. My last paragraph sounds pessimistic but I am an optimist and hope that we can turn the tide around.

    Greetings from London.

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  14. Hoy te dejo mis saludos con buena música.
    Que tengas un buen principio de semana.

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  15. Interesting points...was great reading your views. Thanks for sharing.

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  16. I am not familiar with your country's politics and issues, so this was educational for me ~ What also resonated with me was the lack of community spirit ~ As an immigrant, now citizen of Canada, I appreciate the perspective that all of us are here to work and live a good life ~ We are a multi cultural community, helping each other & learning to live with each other's differences ~

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  17. This attitude towards immigrants and welfare recipients is very much present in the U.S., too. It's sort of an "us and them" mentality that is based on fear of change...and some odd worry of "If everyone is taken care of, then I won't have enough." UGH.

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  18. This attitude towards immigrants and welfare recipients is very much present in the U.S., too. It's sort of an "us and them" mentality that is based on fear of change...and some odd worry of "If everyone is taken care of, then I won't have enough." UGH.

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  19. I honestly believe the media are mostly to blame for this. They seem to me to have some sort of death-wish...to plug only the negative side of every situation.
    I sometimes tune in to the national news in a good frame of mind...and when they've finished with me, I'm feeling somewhat down in the dumps and agitated!

    Thank you for a thought-provoking post. These things definitely needed to be said...there is already too much bigotry and hatred in the world. I just wish every person could learn to tune into their own conscience...and realise we are ALL human beings, no matter where we originate from.

    Greetings from the New Forest! :)

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  20. Yes, Cubano. Fear and hate are unfortunately given much more power than love and charity in many Western societies. The U.S. is covered with these same sentiments, as you can see from recent violent acts. It does have a lot to do with media perceptions but it also has to do with people being afraid to give up any of their privileges and power.The real problem is that people refuse to acknowledge that we are all connected. You can't let one segment of the society suffer and starve and expect it not to affect you in some way. Chickens will always come home to roost...

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  21. Being a perceptive person is a laudable attribute, but the problem lies in the inability to separate perception from facts. Too many people have the attitude of ,"I THINK it, therefore it must be TRUE." This is further exacerbated by if-I-say-it-you-better-believe-it politicians as a means of promoting their own policies, and then advanced again when the Media reports over and over and over again on the things the political nut jobs say, no matter how outrageous, and of course, there's always the good ol' Internet and those much-shared email "truths." It's frustrating, but I still hold out hope that in the end, the truth will win.

    How cool that you chose a song by Muse. I happen to be listening to one of the CDs right now. (LOVE 'em!)

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  22. you are from Cuba, do you the tree I have photographed in CostaRica?
    http://nfmacro.blogspot.se/2015/06/trees-n-bushes-14-cuban-royal-palm-tree.html

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  23. My God, the situation here in the States is even worse with the Republicans raging on about the "takers" and the "welfare cheats," while turning a mysteriously blind eye towards all kinds of corporate corruption. The atmosphere is so toxic and the damage to our country has been so severe that I wonder if it can ever be repaired. But nothing will change as long as people insist on making money by telling lies and fueling hatred.

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