Survey reveals trust issues as majority demand economic reform
Posted on Monday 21 September 2026
This finding was revealed as part of the Earth for All Survey 2026, Rebuild trust: Rigged economies, fractured societies and the case for change. The report, co-authored by Professor Kate Pickett from the University of Yok, focuses on social tension and social cohesion, and is based on a survey conducted in 17 countries by Ipsos on behalf of Earth4All.
It finds societies that are united in their diagnosis of what is wrong with the economy, but that feel themselves more divided than ever, and with collapsing trust in those in power to fix it.
Economic inequality
Seven in 10 respondents (70%) say there is too much economic inequality in their country. Nearly two-thirds (65%) believe the system is rigged to benefit the rich and powerful, and 69% want major changes to the economic system, against just 8% who disagree.
Yet while the mandate for change is overwhelming, the trust in governments to deliver it has deteriorated, only 31% believe their government will make decisions that benefit the majority of people twenty or thirty years from now, compared with 39% in 2024.
That collapse runs through the wider social fabric. Two-thirds of respondents (67%) say their country is more divided than a decade ago, citing serious tension between supporters of different political parties (71%), between people on high and low incomes (63%), between immigrants and the native-born (62%), and between the climate-concerned and the sceptical (53%).
Shared future
Kate Pickett, Professor for the Public Understanding of Social Sciences at the University of York, said: "People right across the income spectrum, in country after country, have arrived at the same diagnosis: that the system is rigged and that inequality has gone too far.
“The collapse in trust is deeply concerning; when people stop believing that their government will act in their interest long-term, it's corrosive to the sense of shared future that healthy societies depend on."
Support for democracy itself remains strong in principle, with 68% saying it is the best way to govern their country, but it is increasingly contested in practice. Around 40% say their country would be better off with a strong leader unconstrained by parliament and elections, a figure that rises above half in several upper-middle-income countries.
Radical change
This survey is the third in a series of surveys conducted by Earth4All since 2021 into changing public attitudes to social and political system change.
Owen Gaffney, the report’s co-author and narrative chair of Earth4All, said: “This survey captures a gap that Earth4All has been tracking for several years now. The public wants systemic economic change, yet mainstream politics is consistently failing to offer it.
“When this gap is left unaddressed, it gets filled by whoever is willing to promise radical change first, democratic safeguards or not. The opportunity here is for a new kind of social contract, one that takes seriously the scale of change people are asking for and offers it through fair and democratic means."
