Sky News/IPPR poll on the UK economy - download our worksheet

With impeccable timing, Sky News and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) have released the findings of their extensive survey on how people view the relative 'fairness' of the UK economy. The results suggest that more than half of us think that the economy doesn't operate in a 'fair' way and government policy should change.

The full IPPR report is available here. Sky News' report is here. Further analysis from the Guardian is here.

For brand new students to economics this may make a fascinating topic of discussion. The survey brings the management of the economy completely alive - despite relatively low levels of inflation and unemployment we may actually be running our economy in a way that benefits some sections of society more than others.

So here's a worksheet that teachers may find beneficial to set for their students either as an in-class activity or as homework during the first couple of weeks of term. As well as summarising some of the outcomes of the survey it shows the respondents suggested government policies. The worksheet asks 'in what ways might the UK economy be unfair?' and 'how would the suggested policies make the economy fairer?' Also, the are a couple of questions about think tanks and the use of surveys to support the introduction of the concept of normative statements.

The UK Economy is not working (pdf)

The UK Economy is not working (Word document)