Would you take £50,000 or a 50/50 chance of £1m?

2026-08-01

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If you had a choice between instantly receiving £50,000 or a 50% chance to win £1m, which would you pick?When YouGov asked exactly that question to people in the UK, 73% said they would take the £50,000, while 21% opted for the 50/50 chance of winning £1m.As you may or may not have imagined, this finding provoked outrage on Twitter, with people saying the UK appeared incredibly risk averse. “This is what’s wrong with Britain,” wrote celebrity polling analyst and More or Less interviewee Nate Silv...

If you had a choice between instantly receiving £50,000 or a 50% chance to win £1m, which would you pick?

When YouGov asked exactly that question to people in the UK, 73% said they would take the £50,000, while 21% opted for the 50/50 chance of winning £1m.

As you may or may not have imagined, this finding provoked outrage on Twitter, with people saying the UK appeared incredibly risk averse. “This is what’s wrong with Britain,” wrote celebrity polling analyst and More or Less interviewee Nate Silver.

But is the result surprising, when you know a bit more about how people make decisions like this? BBC economics editor Faisal Islam explains why he thinks not. CREDITS: Presenter: Lizzy McNeill Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Siobhan Reed Sound mix: Donald MacDonald Editor: Richard Vadon

Image Credit: Jamie Lawton via Getty

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