PUBLIC VIEWPOINTS CHANGING PEOPLE MORE POSITIVE ON KEY ISSUES: STUDY
PUBLIC opinion on several important topics has dramatically shifted in Northern Ireland over the past 20 years, a landmark study has found.
Attitudes towards gay marriage, abortion and religious relations here have become more positive since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, according to the research compiled by Queen’s University and Ulster University.
ARK — a joint initiative between the two institutions — has been monitoring public attitudes, and has charted the shift in a series of surveys.
Since 1998, more than 87,237 adults, young people and children have taken part.
Now a new report of key findings has highlighted how the number of people who thought abortions were acceptable or only sometimes wrong has risen by 30% since the agreement.
In 1998, around half of respondents thought it was not at all or only sometimes wrong to have an abortion if there was a strong chance of a serious defect in the baby.
But by 2016, over 80% thought the law should definitely or prob- ably allow abortion where a foetus had a fatal abnormality.
Cross-community relations have also improved in recent years, according to the ongoing polls. Just 28% thought Catholics and Protestants got on better in 2001 than in the five years before, whereas 49% did in 2017.
In 1998, a majority here (58%) thought that same-sex sexual relations were always wrong, but by 2013 this view had fallen to 27%.
In 2013, the last year when questions on this subject were asked, 59% of Northern Irish people surveyed supported samesex marriage.
Half of children aged 16 who took part in a 2014 study said they had heard of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child — but only 28% of 10 and 11-year-olds had.
The idea of a special tax collected over a person’s life — so they would get care when they needed it for free — was floated in 2015, and 63% agreed.
But as many as 72% of those asked in 2017 felt society does not recognise the contribution older people can make.
Professor Adrienne Scullion, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast, said: “The ARK survey series gave the people of Northern Ireland a voice when they didn’t necessarily have one. A key strength of the surveys is that they are flexible and can focus on new topics as they arise.
“We hope that the surveys will continue into the future, providing important evidence of public opinion in Northern Ireland across all age groups, and contributing to public policy and academic debates.”
The report, which marks 20 years of the Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey series, focused on the opinions of adults and started in 1998.
From 2003, the Young Life and Times began monitoring the attitudes of 16-year-olds and the Kids’ Life and Times survey started recording the opinions of 10-11-year-olds in 2008.
The three surveys cover issues that affect the lives of people in Northern Ireland, including community relations, abortion, sport, ageing and ageism, same-sex equality, racial prejudice, children’s rights and views and social care. The data collected has helped evaluate public policies such as community relations and racial equality. It has informed public and political debate in highly contested policy areas.
Professor Paddy Nixon, Vice-Chancellor and President of Ulster University, said: “Research that has a tangible impact on the real lives of the people of Northern Ireland and beyond is part of the DNA of Ulster University.
“The Life and Times Surveys have been a vital barometer of public attitudes to the key social and political issues here, making an important contribution to significant civic discussions.”