In February 2022, almost a third of people in Great Britain (32%) felt it would take more than a year for life to return to normal following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This is almost three times higher than at the start of the pandemic (11% between 27 March and 6 April 2020). According to Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) data from between 16 and 27 February 2022, more than 1 in 10 people (12%) thought life would never return to normal, and 9% felt their life had already returned to normal.

Disabled people were more likely than non-disabled people to feel life would never return to normal, while non-disabled people were more likely to feel life was already back to normal. People who could afford an unexpected £850 expense were more likely than those who couldn’t to feel that life had already returned to normal.

Although almost all restrictions had been lifted by late February 2022, most adults reported taking at least one preventative measure to stop the spread of COVID-19. Around four-fifths of people reported frequently washing or sanitising hands (81%), 76% wore face coverings and 57% avoided crowded places.

Updates on the percentage of people maintaining certain preventative measures to slow the spread of coronavirus are published in our fortnightly release on Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain. See the Measuring the data section for details on the differences between data presented in this article and in the fortnightly release.

The proportion of people who think life has already gone back to normal is rising

The proportion of people who feel that life is already back to normal since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has risen from 4% of adults surveyed in late December 2021 and early January 2022, to 9% between 16 and 27 February 2022.

All other attitudes about how long it would take for life to return to normal have remained fairly stable during 2022. However the proportion of people who think it will take a year or less for life to return to normal fell considerably throughout 2021.

Around 1 in 10 people feel their life has already returned to normal

Attitudes towards when life will return to normal, Great Britain, March 2020 to February 2022

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Notes:
  1. Question: “How long do you think it will be before your life returns to normal?”
  2. Response category of "Prefer not to say" is not shown on this chart.
  3. Response category “I think my life has already returned to normal” was introduced from 15 December 2021.
  4. Confidence intervals are provided in the datasets associated with this bulletin. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one estimate overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two estimates.

Download the data for attitudes on when life will return to normal (XLSX, 15KB)

People’s expectations of when life will return to normal differed by a range of characteristics. In February 2022, disabled people were almost two times less likely to think that their life had returned to normal (6%) than non-disabled people (11%). Disabled people were also more likely to think that life would never return to normal (16% of disabled people compared with 10% of non-disabled).

People who were unable to afford an unexpected but necessary £850 expense, and therefore may be struggling financially, were three times less likely to feel that life was back to normal (4%) than people who could afford it (12%). People unable to afford an expense were also more likely to feel it would take more than a year before life returned to normal (39% compared with 29%).

Parents with dependent children were more likely to feel it would be more than a year before their life returned to normal (39% compared with 29% of non-parents).

Over half of people were avoiding crowds and spending more time at home because of coronavirus

Respondents to the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) were asked about their behaviours because of coronavirus (COVID-19). This question was asked at the end of February 2022, when the majority of restrictions and guidance in place in Great Britain to manage the spread of COVID-19 had been lifted. During the response period, self-isolation requirements in England were also removed.

The behaviours most commonly reported were frequent hand washing (81%) and wearing face coverings (76%). More than half of people reported that they were avoiding crowded places (57%) and spending more time at home (53%).

Previous analysis found similar behavioural trends in Summer 2021, following the lifting of most coronavirus restrictions in England from 19 July 2021. Three-quarters (75%) of adults in Great Britain said they still planned to sanitise their hands regularly, two-thirds (64%) planned to cover their faces in shops and 60% planned to avoid crowded places.

Regardless of restrictions, 45% of people reported avoiding close contact with people they do not live with in February 2022. The same percentage (45%) reported opening windows and doors in enclosed spaces.

Around a sixth of adults (16%) reported that they were no longer going into school or work when experiencing cold or flu symptoms. This rose to 23% among parents of dependent children and fell to 14% among non-parents.

Around a quarter of people (26%) said they were avoiding public transport. This reflects trends seen elsewhere, with data from the Department for Transport (DfT) showing public transport use is yet to return to pre-coronavirus levels.

Use of private forms of transport is recovering faster than public, according to DfT. Over the week commencing 14 February 2022, cycling was at 97% of pre-coronavirus levels in England. On 17 February 2022, use of cars was at 91% of pre-coronavirus levels in Great Britain, while use of national rail was at 73%. Buses outside of London were at 72% of pre-coronavirus levels. In London, use of the tube was at 64% of pre-coronavirus levels, and use of London buses was at 80% of pre-coronavirus levels.

Around a third of the OPN respondents (35%) reported they were doing more shopping online because of COVID-19. Online sales remained higher than pre-coronavirus levels, according to Retail Sales Index data.

In January 2022, online sales made up a quarter (25%) of all retail sales. This was the lowest proportion since March 2020, but still 5 percentage points higher than before the pandemic.

Almost two-thirds of disabled people were spending more time at home because of the pandemic

In February 2022, disabled people were more likely than non-disabled people to feel that life will never return to normal (16% compared with 10%). This trend has been consistent throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Disabled people were also less likely than non-disabled people to think life had already returned to normal (6% compared with 11%).

Previous analysis of the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on disabled people has shown that between March 2020 and December 2021 disabled people were more likely to report feeling very uncomfortable or uncomfortable about leaving their homes. Disabled people also reported a greater impact on their wellbeing, as well as access to healthcare and treatment for non-coronavirus-related issues.

These effects on daily life were reflected in the behaviours disabled people adopted because of the pandemic. In February 2022, the majority of disabled people (67%) reported they were avoiding crowded places, compared with 54% of non-disabled people.

Disabled people were also more likely than non-disabled people to avoid close contact with those they do not live with (57% of disabled people compared with 41% of non-disabled) and spend more time at home because of coronavirus (63% of disabled people compared with 49% of non-disabled).

Disabled people were less likely to have spent more time outdoors because of the pandemic (8% of disabled people compared with 16% of non-disabled people). However, they used digital technology more for socialising, hobbies, and activities than non-disabled people (31% compared with 21%).

Disabled people were more likely to avoid crowded places and close contact with others because of the pandemic

Proportion of adults adopting behaviours because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, by disability status, Great Britain, 16 to 27 February 2022

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Notes:
  1. Question: “Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which of these do you currently do?”
  2. The response option "work from home" was asked of all adults, not just those in employment.

Download the data for adults adopting behaviours because of the coronavirus by disability (XLSX, 10KB)

Younger people were the least likely to avoid crowded places

A third of adults aged 16 to 24 years (33%) reported avoiding crowded places, compared with half of those aged 25 to 34 years (50%) and 71% of those aged 70 years and over.

Less than two-thirds of people aged 16 to 24 years (61%) wore face coverings, compared with 85% of those aged 70 years and over. The proportion of people frequently using hand gel or hand washing fell to 69% among those aged 16 to 24 years and rose to 89% among those aged 70 years and over.

Almost a tenth (9%) of those aged 16 to 24 years were not doing any of the behaviours listed, compared with 2% of those aged 70 years and over.

Younger age groups (those aged 16 to 24 and 25 to 34 years) were less likely than older age groups to avoid close contact with those they do not live with. Around a fifth (19%) of adults aged 16 to 24 years avoided close contact with people they do not live with compared with 61% of those aged 70 years and over.

Almost one in six (15%) of those aged 16 to 24 years think their life has already returned to normal; this was significantly higher than those aged 25 to 34 years (5%) and those aged 70 years and over (6%).

Women were more likely than men to avoid crowded places and public transport

In late February, women were more likely than men to frequently use hand gel or wash hands, open windows or doors in indoor spaces, avoid crowded places, and wear face coverings and avoid public transport because of coronavirus.

Men were more likely than women to report not doing any behaviours because of coronavirus (6% of men compared with 2% of women).

Women were more likely than men to frequently wash hands or use hand gel

Proportion of adults adopting different behaviours because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, by sex, Great Britain, 16 to 27 February 2022

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Notes:
  1. Question: “Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which of these do you currently do?”
  2. The response option "work from home" was asked of all adults, not just those in employment.

Download the data for adults adopting behaviours because of the coronavirus, by sex (XLSX, 10KB)

Women were also more likely than men to report shopping online more (39% of women compared with 31% of men) and spending more time at home (58% of women compared with 48% of men).

While women were more likely than men to adopt behaviours because of coronavirus, men and women’s attitudes towards the return to normal were similar. Women were equally as likely as men to feel that their life has already returned to normal (9%), and there was no significant difference in the proportion of men and women feeling that life would never return to normal or return to normal in over a year. However, women were more likely than men to be unsure when life would return to normal (31% of women and 24% of men).

People unable to afford an unexpected expense were less likely to spend more time outdoors

Overall, 14% of people said they were spending more time outside because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This fell to 10% among those unable to afford an unexpected but necessary expense of £850 and rose to 16% among those who could afford one.

People unable to afford an unexpected expense were also less likely to report walking or cycling more (11% of those unable to afford an expense compared with 18% of those who were able to afford one), and working from home (13% compared with 23%).

Previous analysis of Time Use Survey data from March and April 2020 showed the amount of time people in higher income households they spent on fitness during lockdown increased, while people in low-income households saw no change.

Those on lower incomes were also more likely to have continued working outside the home compared with patterns before the coronavirus pandemic.

People unable to afford an unexpected expense were less likely to report spending more time outdoors

Proportion of adults adopting behaviours because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, by ability to afford unexpected expense, Great Britain, 16 to 27 February 2022

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Notes:
  1. Question: “Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which of these do you currently do?”
  2. The response option "work from home" was asked of all adults, not just those in employment.

Download the data for adults adopting behaviours because of coronavirus, by ability to afford an expense (XLSX, 10KB)

Measuring the data

Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN)

This release contains data and indicators from the Office for National Statistics' (ONS') Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN). Data in this article were collected between 16 and 27 February 2022, with respondents aged 16 years and over in Great Britain.

During this period, restrictions in England were lifted, including self-isolation laws. The latest information and guidance in England, Wales, and Scotland can be found on the gov.uk website.

Responses to the question “Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which of these do you currently do?” give information about a range of behaviours respondents are carrying out because of the pandemic, but trends are changing.

Long-term trends in the percentage of people reporting carrying out preventative measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 are presented in our fortnightly bulletin on Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain.

Breakdowns by age, sex, region, country, disability status, ability to afford an unexpected expense and parental status including confidence intervals for the estimates, are contained in the accompanying dataset.

Where differences in estimates are presented in this article, associated confidence intervals have been used to assess the statistical significance of these differences.

Further information on the survey design and quality can be found in the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey QMI.

Department for Transport – Transport use during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

To monitor the use of the transport system during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Department for Transport (DfT) provides statistics on transport use by mode.

It should be noted that the week of 14 February 2022 saw storms in parts of the country and school half term in some local areas. However, trends in transport use in this week are not greatly changed compared with previous weeks.

The associated methodology notes set out information on the data sources and methodology used to generate these headline measures.

View all data used in this article

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