In a sweeping international survey that lays bare the depth of national disillusionment, Britons have emerged as among the most dissatisfied people in the developed world when reflecting on the past half-century. The new Ipsos global poll, which asked citizens across dozens of countries to evaluate their nation’s trajectory since 1975, found that a striking 63% of people in the UK believe the country was happier 50 years ago—a sentiment echoed more strongly only in France.
Only 12% of Britons said they think the nation is happier today in 2025, a sobering figure that suggests more than mere nostalgia. Despite the majority of respondents not being alive in 1975, the view that Britain has declined in happiness, safety, and cohesion is widely shared across generations—including the usually future-facing Gen Z, where support for today’s status quo barely edged out support for a bygone era.
Britons Say Country ‘Changing Too Fast’, Detect ‘Tension’ Between Migrants and UK-Born, Research Finds https://t.co/UJ38zA4M7I
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 8, 2025
It wasn’t just happiness that registered deep pessimism. Sixty percent of Britons said the country was safer in 1975, while only 17% believe things have become more secure today. Even more telling, a plurality now say they would rather have been born long ago, a remarkable inversion in a nation often defined by its confidence in progress, science, and liberal democracy.
Ipsos analysts noted that these responses can’t simply be chalked up to rose-tinted memories. Most respondents weren’t even alive in 1975—suggesting their views stem more from current dissatisfaction than past sentimentality. A spokesperson for the firm called it a reflection of “widespread dissatisfaction with the current direction of our country.”
That dissatisfaction appears to be driven by both domestic and global unease. Amid war in Ukraine, instability in the Middle East, and rising tensions in the Asia-Pacific, nearly half of UK respondents said the world felt safer during the Cold War era than it does today. Only 16% disagreed.
This data aligns with a steady cascade of polling in recent months that paints a portrait of a British public deeply alienated from the direction of modern life. Another major study found 86% believe there is tension between immigrants and native-born citizens, while a majority said they feel the nation is changing too fast. Most said they preferred the country the way it used to be—a phrase that increasingly dominates political messaging.
At the heart of much of the unease lies the issue of migration and identity. A separate poll cited by Ipsos found that a majority of Britons agree with statements such as:
- “We risk losing our national identity if we are too open to people from all over the world,”
- “It is bad for society if white people decline as a share of the population,” and
- “Society is weakened by being made up of many different races, ethnicities, and religions.”
That kind of rhetoric—once confined to the political fringe—is now rapidly entering the mainstream. According to another poll, a clear majority of Britons now support mass deportations of illegal immigrants, a view that Brexit leader Nigel Farage called proof that “the centre is moving very rapidly” and that “the public have just had enough.”
