Britain is a country with more liberal views on marriage and family life, but less sympathy for the poor than it used to have – marked by a growing concern about the environment and a male population that thinks it does more of the housework despite the disbelief of its womenfolk.

That is part, at least, of the picture that emerges from this year’s British Social Attitudes survey that annually examines who we think we are, what we think, and how self-perceptions have changed over the past 25 years.