Top 10: Common misconceptions among Britons about Britain

Below is a list of Ten most common misconceptions about Britain by Britons, I thought it was interesting...

10 Voting
Perception: Forty-three per cent of people voted in the last general election.
Reality: Sixty-five per cent of people voted in the last general election.

9 Benefits
Perception: Capping benefits at £26,000 per household will save more money than increasing the pension age to 66 or stopping child benefit for those earning over £50,000.
Reality: Capping household benefits will save £290million, compared with £5billion for raising the pension age and £1.7billion for reducing child benefit.

8 Demographics
Perception: Thirty-six per cent of the population are over 65.
Reality: Sixteen per cent of the population are over 65.

7 Immigration and ethnicity
Perception: Thirty-one per cent of people in the UK are immigrants, and black and Asian people make up 30 per cent of the population.
Reality: Thirteen per cent of people in the UK are immigrants, and black and Asian people make up 11 per cent of the population.

6 Religion
Perception: Twenty-four per cent of people in England and Wales are Muslim and 34 per cent are Christian.
Reality: Five per cent of people in England and Wales are Muslim, compared to 59 per cent who are Christian.

5 Overseas aid
Perception: Twenty-six per cent of people think overseas aid is among the top three items of government spending.
Reality: Overseas aid constituted £7.9billion, or 1.1 per cent, of expenditure, in 2011/12, compared to pensions at £74billion and education at £51.5billion.

4 Benefit fraud
Perception: £24 in every £100 spent on benefits is claimed fraudulently.
Reality: £0.70 in every £100 spent on benefits is claimed fraudulently

3 Unemployment
Perception: Twenty-nine per cent of people think we spend more on jobseekers’ allowance than pensions.
Reality: Pensions spending outweighs jobseekers’ allowance 15 times over (£4.9billion v £74.2billion).

2 Crime
Perception: Fifty-eight per cent do not believe crime is falling and 51 per cent think violent crime is rising.
Reality: Reported crime was 19 per cent lower in 2012 compared to 2006/07 and was 53 per cent lower than 1995; violent crime has fallen from 2.5million incidents in 2006/07 to 2million last year.

1 Teenage pregnancy
Perception: Fifteen per cent of girls under 16 get pregnant.
Reality: 0.6 per cent of girls under 16 get pregnant.

Ipsos Mori conducted 1,015 interviews online with adults aged 16-75 between June 14 and June 18, with data weighted to match the profile of the population.