Society 'missing its moral compass'

Society has lost its "moral compass", with government, the media, big business and religion sharing the responsibility, the consultation by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found.

In 1904 the founder of the social policy charity identified poverty, war, slavery, intemperance, the opium trade, impurity and gambling as the "great scourges of humanity".

Today's top 10 evils, identified after a consultation with more than 3,500 people, were mostly linked to the breakdown of community and family, and in some cases a matter of dispute.

They were: the decline of community, individualism, consumerism and greed, a decline of values, the decline of the family, young people as both victims and perpetrators, drugs and alcohol, poverty and inequality, immigration and responses to it, and crime and violence.

The report concluded that people felt "a strong sense of unease" about some of the changes shaping British society.

It said: "People are concerned about the way our society has become more individualistic, greedy and selfish, seemingly at a cost to our sense of community.

"The focus on greed as an issue reflects concern about the growing gulf between the rich and poor. Connected to all of these issues was the perception that we no longer share a set of common values and that we have lost our 'moral compass'."

Many of the evils were inter-linked, with the decline of community connected to increasing isolation but also individualism, with relationships "eclipsed by an excessive desire for consumer goods".

The misuse of drugs and alcohol was identified as both a cause and consequence of many other social problems, including family breakdown and poverty.