Clear about the rules but confident you are right to ignore them? You must be a high earner

How far did different groups of people comply with the restrictions on daily life caused by the latest lockdown? And why? These were some of the questions a research project by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) set out to answer. The results are fascinating, not least because they suggest the downsides of living in an affluent neighbourhood.

Why? Well, the ONS found that high-income earners had a “unique” perspective among all of the groups looked at. “The most unique attitude of this group was that many seemed clear about what they should be doing but were confident in arguing that they had good reasons for ignoring the guidance or that they had assessed and minimised the risk,” they found.

What makes this all the more astonishing, perhaps, is when the survey was carried out.

A series of in-depth interviews with almost 200 adults across the UK began on 23 December last year and concluded on 22 January, or, that is, around the height of the most recent wave of the pandemic. By the time the first interviews started a council in London was being threatened with legal action by ministers for wanting to close its schools. Within a fortnight Boris Johnson had shut every single one in the country. And the worst sequel in recent history, lockdown three, kicked off in earnest for many.

All this appeared to have little effect on one high-income worker in Scotland. The women, in her early 50s, told researchers she was “happy to take a chance with a fine” and allow friends into her house as it was “safe and clean” and they were “not touching handles”. So much for the space aspect of “hands, face, space”.

The ONS insists the finding are not intended to be “representative”. Instead they provide a snapshot of what people told them about their daily habits and their attitudes towards the lockdown and its restrictions.

Is there anything politicians can learn from this kind of survey? Well, the researchers believe they can be used by those in government to inform policy which rely on compliance as well as the communications around such restrictions.

Let’s just hope they are not required to be put to use during a fourth coronavirus lockdown.