Over half of Britons think the financial situation of their household will get worse over the next 12 months, according to a new YouGov poll, with 48% saying that the Budget was “unfair”
After retail sales growth stalled in October and several measures showed consumer confidence worsening, many retailers would have been hoping that the certainty provided by the Budget on Wednesday would stabilise the public mood.
However, a post-Budget poll by YouGov suggests no lift in economic sentiment ahead of Black Friday and one of the biggest sales weekends of the year. The survey of UK adults showed that 67% think the economy will get worse over the next 12 months, while just 3% say it is in a “quite good” state.
Most worrying for retailers is consumers’ assessment of their own finances. The survey shows that 56% of Britons think that the financial situation of their household will get worse over the next 12 months, while 50% think that the changes set out in the Budget will make themselves and their families worse off.
Among the major measures announced in the Budget was another three-year freeze to income tax and national insurance thresholds starting in 2028, meaning more Britons will move into higher tax bands as wages increase. The government also announced that salary sacrifice schemes will be capped at £2,000, meaning some workers will now pay national insurance on pension contributions that were previously shielded from the tax.
“I know that maintaining these thresholds is a decision that will affect working people, I said that last year, and I won’t pretend otherwise now,” said Reeves while announcing the plan to the House of Commons.
The YouGov polling shows that 48% thought that the Budget plans were unfair, while 21% said the opposite. The polling firm said that this was the second-worst fair-to-unfair ratio it had recorded since 2010, with only the Truss-Kwarteng mini-Budget in 2022 being rated more unfair by the British public.
In a sign of support for the retail industry, 64% of Britons said that they thought decreasing business tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses was the right thing to do at this time. Seven out of 10 Brits (71%) also said the same about government plans to increase the national living wage to £12.71 next April.
YouGov polled 2,077 adults in Great Britain on November 26 and 27, 2025.
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