Wealthier Brits more trusting of the media than those on low incomes
Wealthier Brits are more likely to trust the media than those living on low incomes, a gap indicative of the wider one that’s opening up between an informed global elite and the rest of the population.
Trust in the UK’s government, media and businesses is at a post-recession high, according to Edelman’s Trust Barometer but the increase is greater among what the so-called ‘informed public. This group is richer, better educated and are more interested in current affairs than the rest of the population, which is less likely to trust institutions and the government the poorer they get.
There was a 12-point difference for trust in the media separating those people with incomes in excess of £100,000 and liquid assets of more than £650,0000 and those living with a salary less than £15,000. That gap was even more pronounced when looking at the attitudes of the two demographics toward governments and businesses, which were separated by 28-points and 32-points respectively.
Ed Williams, Edelman UK’s chief executive, said the “gulf between the hopes and aspirations of the top and bottom of the social ladder should worry everyone in Britain."
The state of the country serves as a microcosm for a gap between the elite and the rest that’s at its widest since the report began measuring trust levels in 2012.
Six in ten of the wealthier respondents trusted institutions to do “the right thing”, significantly more than the 46 per cent of participants on a lower income willing to put their faith in companies. This could be the reason why the study found people are more likely to trust a “person like yourself”, who along with a regular employee are significantly more trusted than a chief executive or government official.
Despite the general population’s wariness of business, 61 per cent of the general population trust them to keep pace with change, far more than they do NGOs (55 per cent) and governments (41 per cent). Businesses were also more trusted than governments in 21 of the 28 countries surveyed, with the US, South Africa and Mexico among the countries with the largest gaps.
That uptick has likely made more people hopeful that businesses can mend that trust gap as well as tackle other issues; most (80 per cent) of the general population agree that companies can be a force good while being profitable, up from 74 per cent in 2015.
Globally, family-owned companies (66 per cent) are the most trusted, followed by public (52 per cent) and state-owned (46 per cent) businesses.