Trajectory Partnership have shared their latest UK ‘Optimism Index’.
Headlines include:
- After a three-year stint in the doldrums of pessimism, consumers are now more positive than they’ve been since Christmas 2021 (just before the cost-of-living crisis started biting)
- At a UK level, the headline score is positive (optimistic), but only just, at 51%, but there is polarisation within the data:
- The most significant differences remain across generations, with 30-point gap in score between younger (Gen Z / Millennials) and older (Gen X / Baby Boomers / Silent Generation) adults
- The next biggest difference is by region, where London outscore the rest of the UK by 24 points. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all achieve a score of 50+ (optimistic), but the population of England outside of London are not yet feeling optimistic about the future
- Political differences are a potential catalyst for such a divergence (with those in London being 16% more likely to vote Labour), and there are similar differences in economic confidence (Londoners are 33% more likely to expect their own finances to improve in the next year)