Rowntree report highlights inequality and referendum vote
A link between poverty and the vote for Brexit has been made in a new report
A report just released by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has highlighted the close link between poverty and those who voted for Brexit in the EU referendum.
The key findings of the report reveal that the poorest households, with incomes of less than £20,000 per year, were much more likely to support leaving the EU than the wealthiest households, as were the unemployed and people in low-skilled and manual occupations.
Age, income and education matter, though it is educational inequality, the report clearly states, that was the strongest driver.
Groups in Britain who have been ‘left behind’ by rapid economic change and feel cut adrift from the mainstream consensus were most likely to support Brexit.
The report explains that the result of the referendum: ‘Has thrown new light on deeper social, geographic and cultural divides that often lay hidden below the surface of our national conversation. Looking ahead, it seems likely that these stubbornly persistent and growing inequalities will strengthen.
The research in the report was conducted by Matthew Goodwin, professor of Political Science at the University of Kent, and Oliver Heath, reader in Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London.
(See ‘Poverty is theft’)
