Public supportive of easier migration entry requirements for health and social care workers, support rent and mortgage holidays, oppose airline bailout

In our latest COVID-19 survey, Survation has looked at public attitudes to key workers and immigration, renting, and potential rescue packages for the airline industry.

38% of respondents in our UK national survey favour easier immigration entrance requirements for all key workers. 1 in 5 (20%) want to make it harder, 35% want to keep the rules the same, and 7% said they were unsure. When asked about health and social care workers in particular, 42% support easier entry requirements – for NHS workers specifically, this goes up to 48% in favour of easier entry requirements. Generally, there is more support for making rules easier than keeping the status quo, which in turn is more popular than instituting harder entry measures, with a small proportion just not sure.

Our survey also reveals significant dissatisfaction with how the Government is handling the coronavirus crisis. 47% of respondents think the Government is handling COVID-19 badly, and 44% think the crisis is being handled well, with 8% of people uncertain.

Our survey highlights one of the key issues of the coronavirus crisis: the everyday struggle for people to pay their rents and mortgages. We found that 4 in 5 people – 81% – were in favour of people being able to suspend rent or mortgage payments for the period of the coronavirus crisis, without the threat of eviction. Of those who support a payment holiday, 69% think the payments should be recompensed after the coronavirus lockdown, with 24% opposing repayment.

Finally, calls for airlines to be bailed out by the Government due to the coronavirus crisis were met with little public support. 29% of respondents believed airlines should be bailed out with 55% rejecting potential rescue measures. Among those that support a bailout, 7 in 10 – 72% – believe the public should hold a share of airline companies that have received Government financial support, compared to 21% opposing a public shareholding.

Survation polled 1,034 people aged 18+ in the UK. Fieldwork was between 22nd– 26th May 2020. Data tables are available here.

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