What are today’s social evils?

Between July and September 2007 we asked the public to consider what social evils face the UK today. The list below is the result of a web survey of 3,500 people and discussions with groups whose voices are not usually heard.

It reveals a strong sense of unease about some of the changes shaping British society.

Participants highlighted the following concerns about how we seem to live our lives:

• a decline of community;
• individualism;
• consumerism and greed;
• a decline of values.

Against this backdrop, people identified some more concrete social evils:

• decline of the family;
• young people as victims or perpetrators;
• drugs and alcohol;
• poverty and inequality;
• immigration and responses to immigration;
• crime and violence.

Feel free to leave your comments on any of the above pages. We are particularly interested in hearing about any possible solutions you have in mind.

Publications

• What are today’s social evils? (PDF, 114KB)
  A summary of the findings from the consultation, by Beth Watts and Charlie Lloyd (Joseph Rowntree Foundation), and Alice Mowlam and Chris Creegan (National Centre for Social Research).
• What are today’s social evils? The results of a web consultation (PDF, 418KB)
  A full analysis of the web consultation, by Beth Watts.
• Modern-day social evils: The voices of unheard groups (PDF, 147KB)
  A report outlining the findings from a consultation project with groups whose voices are not usually heard, by Alice Mowlam and Chris Creegan.