The Guardian reported that support for tax funding of Britain’s National Health Service among Gen Z adults fell between 2021 and 2025, while a joint analysis of survey results found broad public backing for the system’s founding principles remained.
The Guardian put Gen Z support at 74.1% in 2025, down 11.2 percentage points from 2021. The joint report by The King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust found no statistically significant differences between age groups in support for the NHS principles.
Across respondents, 81% said the NHS should be primarily funded through taxes, 89% backed care free when needed and 74% said it should be available to everyone. Each figure was lower than in 2021, with the largest decline in support for access for all. The report found no statistically significant change from 2024.
The 2025 British Social Attitudes questions on NHS funding and principles were answered by 1,460 adults in England, Scotland and Wales. Fieldwork ran from Aug. 26 to Oct. 6. The report said questions about the NHS’s founding principles began in 2021.
Support for a tax-funded model did not mean most respondents favored an immediate spending increase. Asked to choose a tax and spending policy, 45% preferred raising both to spend more on the NHS, 43% favored keeping them at current levels and 8% supported cuts to both.
The joint report found an association between views on migration and support for making the NHS available to everyone, but did not establish that migration attitudes caused the decline in support. Danielle Jefferies, a senior analyst at The King’s Fund, told The Guardian that economic pressure on younger adults and long waits for care could also influence their views.
