The latest wave of the Ipsos MORI Political Monitor shows that 8 in 10 Britons think that Britain will be able to ‘learn to live’ with coronavirus in future, with 25% saying they are ‘very confident’ and 55% saying that they are ‘fairly confident’.
Younger people are less confident than older age groups. Among 18-34s, one in four (25%) are ‘not confident’, almost twice as many as the proportion of over 55s that say the same (13%). However, 74% of 18-34s are confident, reflecting that the overwhelming majority of this age group are optimistic overall.
The public are less sure about the near-term future with approximately one in three (34%) saying they are confident that life in Britain will be back to normal by Christmas. This number is larger than the one in ten (10%) that said the same about Christmas 2020 this time last year but two-thirds still say they are not confident. Similar differences by age are observed here with 28% of 18-34s confident things will mainly be back to normal by Christmas, compared to 42% of those aged 55 and over.
This caution is reflected in anticipated public behaviour over the summer. A majority of Britons (53%) think they are unlikely to host or attend a party this summer, with 38% saying that they are likely (rising to 50% amongst the 18-34 cohort). Meanwhile, just 14% of Britons say they are likely to holiday abroad this summer, with less than one in ten (8%) saying this is ‘very likely’.
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