Spotlight
Personal well-being in the UK, quarterly: April 2011 to September 2020
What's in the bulletin?
- All measures of personal well-being significantly worsened in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2020 compared with the same quarter in 2019; a similar picture emerged comparing Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2020 with the same quarter in the previous year.
- Average ratings of life satisfaction fell by 1.8% between Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) and Quarter 2 of 2020, with average ratings declining from 7.63 out of 10 in the first quarter of the year to 7.50 out of 10 in the second quarter.
- Quarter 2 2020 saw the highest average rating of anxiety recorded since 2011 when we began collecting well-being data; the average anxiety rating of 3.39 out of 10 was 4.5% higher than for the previous quarter (3.24) and a 12.5% increase on the same quarter a year earlier (2.97).
Personal and economic well-being in Great Britain: May 2021
What's in the bulletin?
- Those groups that were financially impacted at the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic were still worse off up to mid-April 2021; such as the self-employed, who were three times as likely to report reduced income and twice as likely to use savings to cover living costs compared with employees.
- Those in the lowest income bracket (up to £10,000 per annum) continued to be more likely to report negative impacts to personal well-being in comparison with higher brackets; such as the coronavirus pandemic making their mental health worse (18%) and feeling stressed or anxious (32%).
- Those in the highest income brackets (£40,000 a year or more) continued to be more likely to report that the coronavirus pandemic was negatively impacting their working life, and were six times as likely to report the pandemic was having a strain on their working relationships; those employed were over twice as likely to find working from home difficult than those in the lowest income bracket.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights
An interactive tool to explore the latest data and trends about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the ONS and other sources.
Datasets related to Well-being
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Young people's well-being measures
Contains all the current domains and measures of national well-being for young people. As well as providing the latest data for each measure, where available a time series of data are also presented along with useful links to data sources and other websites which may be of interest.
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Coronavirus and anxiety estimates
Estimates for loneliness, sex, marital status, feeling safe in own home, work affected by coronavirus and disability split by anxiety over time.
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Coronavirus and anxiety regression estimates
Regression tables for the coronavirus and anxiety release, finding the factors significantly associated with high anxiety, loneliness and feeling safe in own home.
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Coronavirus and loneliness
Analysis of loneliness in Great Britain during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.
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Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain
Indicators from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey covering the period 9 to 13 June to understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people, households and communities in Great Britain.
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Coronavirus and how people spent their time under lockdown
Experimental results of the pilot Office for National Statistics (ONS) online time-use study (collected 28 March to 26 April 2020 across Great Britain) compared with the 2014 to 2015 UK time-use study.
Publications related to Well-being
Statistical bulletins
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Personal well-being in the UK: April 2019 to March 2020
Estimates of life satisfaction, feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile, happiness and anxiety at the UK, country, regional, county and local authority level. Covering the period in the build up to the national lockdown of the UK in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
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Coronavirus and loneliness, Great Britain: 3 April to 3 May 2020
Analysis of loneliness in Great Britain during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.
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Coronavirus and how people spent their time under lockdown: 28 March to 26 April 2020
Experimental results of the pilot Office for National Statistics (ONS) online time-use study (collected 28 March to 26 April 2020 across Great Britain) compared with the 2014 to 2015 UK time-use study.
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Personal and economic well-being in Great Britain: May 2021
Estimates from multiple sources for personal and economic well-being to understand the economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on households in Great Britain from March 2020 to April 2021.
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Social capital in the UK: 2020
How the UK is faring in four domains of social capital: personal relationships, social network support, civic engagement, and trust and cooperative norms.
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Disability, well-being and loneliness, UK: 2019
Personal well-being (UK) and loneliness (England) outcomes for disabled adults, with analysis by age, sex, impairment type, impairment severity and country.
Articles
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Coronavirus and anxiety, Great Britain
The number of people reporting high levels of anxiety has sharply elevated during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This article will provide insights into which socio-demographic and economic factors were most associated with high levels of anxiety during the first weeks of lockdown.
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Exploring loneliness in children, Great Britain
Analysis of children's (aged 10 to 15 years) reporting of loneliness and perception of their circumstances from The Children’s Society Household Survey.
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Coronavirus and social relationships and support for vulnerable groups
A summary of social relationships and social support for vulnerable groups, including older adults and those with a self-defined disability or who are Equality Act Disabled.
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Human capital estimates in the UK
National estimates of human capital and lifetime earnings for the economically active population in the UK.
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Measures of National Well-being Dashboard
It monitors and reports how the UK is doing by producing accepted and trusted measures for the different areas of life that matter most to the UK public.
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Are young people detached from their neighbourhoods?
Born in the digital age, young people are thought to be disconnected from their local area. Take our quiz to see how this stacks up in reality.
Methodology related to Well-being
- Optimism and personal well-being: technical report
- Personal well-being frequently asked questions
- Technical report: logistic regression and latent class analysis of loneliness using the Community Life Survey August 2016 to March 2017
- Personal well-being user guidance
- Translation and cognitive testing of personal well-being questions into Sylheti and Urdu
- Personal well-being quarterly estimates technical report
Looking for local statistics?
A handy guide to let you know where to find local statistics.