I was five years old when the poll tax was introduced. Almost three decades later, Margaret Thatcher’s infamous policy still exemplifies the worst excesses of unjust social policy while the cries of “Can’t pay! Won’t pay!” from rioters filling Trafalgar Square remind us of the fierce public opposition such policies can inspire.

But despite the unprecedented austerity of the post-2010 era, none of the policies of the coalition and Conservative governments since have provoked a similar response. There have been many protests, from wheelchair users blocking the House of Commons entrance in 2017 to highlight disability cuts, to student marches against the abolition of maintenance grants, as well as a vast number of community-based campaigns. But none have reached the scale – or effectiveness – of the poll tax opposition. Even the bedroom tax – a policy that brought headlines of disabled people facing eviction and veterans going hungry (“Bedroom tax nightmare is worse than Afghanistan, says war veteran reduced to living on £5 a day” ran one) – didn’t provoke a strong enough reaction (the policy still, after all, stands today).

This could be explained by the fact that the most regressive policies in recent years have affected groups that are seen as “other” – marginalised sections of society that are easily ignored by the political class, and which the rest of us can comfortably block out as unrelated to our own lives. If you’re a shop worker in private housing, you have little reason to care about the bedroom tax hitting social renters. If you’re a healthy teacher, it’s easy to feel that you don’t need to worry about social care cuts for disabled people.

So the words of Paul Gray, the government’s most senior welfare adviser, in the Observer this week stood out. He warned that “a lot of people are going to realise that, because the system was modified by the austerity measures, it is now going to be financially disadvantageous to them”, and that this was “a really big challenge to come”.

While the universal credit system will result in gains for 2.2 million working families, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has calculated that 3.2 million working families are expected to be worse off, with an average loss of £48 a week. Around 600,000 of those – mainly couples with children – will suddenly be told they’re not entitled to help at all.

And yet what’s interesting about the universal credit rollout isn’t just the sheer scale of it – by its completion in 2022, it’s thought that 8 million people will be on the system – but who is going to be affected. As Gray points out it will mean large numbers of self-employed people entering the benefits system for the very first time – and they will face losing income. This is on top of low-paid workers now being at the mercy of the jobcentre, despite already having a job, as UC rules push them to find more work or risk having their in-work benefits sanctioned.

For some time, polls have shown the British public are increasingly turned off by government cuts

While universal credit will see unprecedented numbers of people experience social security cuts, the ongoing gutting of public services will touch millions more. Last year, the Institute for Government and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy identified five public services as being at “breaking point”: hospitals, adult social care, police, prisons and schools. The Local Government Association, meanwhile, points out that council budget cuts will impact everything from road repairs to parks, children’s centres, leisure centres and libraries. Even that stereotypically middle-class concern – bin collections – won’t be exempt. In short, families who were previously protected from austerity will increasingly see it in the fabric of their lives.

For some time, polls have shown the British public are increasingly turned off by government cuts. Eight in 10 people surveyed in 2017 said they wanted more cash pumped into the NHS. Seven in 10 supported more investment in schools, while 60% wanted higher spending on the police. In light of recent reports of crumbling school buildings, the worst NHS winter crisis on record, and rising rates of violent crime in London, it’s likely that tolerance for low spending has subsequently diminished even further.

This pressure will surely only mount. By 2020, local councils, for example, will have seen central funding fall by a staggering 77%. Cuts – be it through universal credit, hospitals, or local councils – may not be greeted with riots in the streets. But as Thatcher’s government eventually found, public discord can be expressed in the most civilised forum: the polling station. As the effects of underfunding spread, the Conservatives may find they can only push the public so far.

• Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist