The purpose of this study was to analyse public attitudes to welfare provision in the main areas of pensions, health care and education. The principal focus is on ambivalence in support for public and private provision and on explanations that suggest (a) the experience of coercion by officials and professionals; (b) self-interest; (c) party identification as major reasons for this. Attitudinal/Behavioural Questions Satisfaction with, experience of, support for and perceptions of public and private education, health care and pension provision. `Satisfaction' derived from post-coded open ended questions; `Experience' from current and previous use and contact with others who use the services; 'Support' from ideas about their importance and willingness to pay for them; 'Perceptions' from a series of questions about the quality of provision, the extent to which the consumer can control various aspects of it and its general social impact. Background Variables Political support, sex, class, occupation, income, family make-up.