British public say “Recovery? What recovery?”

The economy is growing, and both Osborne and Cameron have been keen to stress the importance of the “recovery”, as if everything in Britain was now hunky-dory. But a recovery isn’t just numbers on a spreadsheet, or money in the pockets of a few. It’s a feel-good factor that spreads throughout the economy.

It’s something that should be shared – and felt by – the many.

Yet this poll – released by Populus yesterday – suggests that for most people it’s a case of “Recovery? What recovery”?. Only 11% “feel part of” the recovery, and whilst the same percentage of people (38%) feel that there is a recovery as feels there isn’t one, the vast majority of those who think there has been a recovery (27%) say they don’t feel a part of it. Here’s how that looks:

The same populous poll found that “cost of living” is now ahead of “the economy” in terms of how people will vote in the next election. Meaning a recovery that only benefits 11% of the population is unlikely to swing many voters into the Tory column.

But this isn’t just a one off poll – and if the Tories are going to try and run on the economy and the “feel good factor” of the “recovery” then they might want to look at some of the chastening polling on the subject. Here’s one that was released by YouGov for the Sunday Times a few days ago. Those polled were asked how the coalition were managing the economy – more than half said badly compared to barely a third who said well:

They were also asked what the state of the British economy was – again, more than half said that the current state of the economy was bad, with only 14% saying it was good:

And on the killer question – when it comes to “cost of living” – whether people feel that their household will be better or worse off next year, almost half said worse, and only just over 10% said better (echoing the Populus polling):

There may be a “paper recovery” underway in the British economy. The predictions for future growth may be improving. Unemployment may be creeping down. But ask the British people the most important question of all – how do you personally feel about the economy and are you getting better or worse off? – and they give a stark answer. And not one that suggests a recovery of any kind worth talking about.