Spotlight
Personal well-being in the UK: April 2019 to March 2020
What's in the bulletin?
- In the year ending March 2020, average ratings of life satisfaction, happiness and anxiety, in the UK, all deteriorated; this is the first time since we started measuring them, in 2011, that these three measures have significantly worsened when compared with the year before.
- In the UK, average ratings of anxiety increased by 6.3% in the year ending March 2020 when compared with the year before, from 2.87 to 3.05 (out of 10); this was the largest annual increase in anxiety since we began measuring personal well-being and there has been no significant improvement for any country or region in any of the four personal well-being measures, compared with last year.
- Average ratings of happiness in the UK fell by 1.1% in the year ending March 2020, compared with the year before, falling in both Scotland (1.2%) and England (1.1%) during this period; at a regional level, average ratings of happiness fell in the North East (2.3%), London (1.7%) and the South East (1.6%).
Personal and economic well-being in Great Britain: June 2020
What's in the bulletin?
- While our day-to-day emotions like happiness and anxiety have improved since the beginning of lockdown, our assessment of life overall, such as our life satisfaction and feeling that the things we do are worthwhile, have remained subdued since 20 March 2020.
- As average anxiety has fallen, the time we think it will take for things to return to normal has increased, with one in four of us expecting it will take over a year or will never go back to normal.
- An estimated 12.5 million people say their households have been affected financially by the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19), a similar share to the beginning of lockdown.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) roundup: People and social impacts
Catch up on the latest data and analysis related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its impact on society.
Datasets related to Well-being
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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 to understand the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people, households and communities in Great Britain. Including breakdowns by at-risk age, sex, disability and underlying health condition.
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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.
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Personal well-being estimates
Annual, monthly and weekly estimates of life satisfaction, feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile, happiness and anxiety in Great Britain.
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: September 2020
Estimates looking across personal and economic well-being covering the period from 20 March to 26 July 2020, to understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people and households in Great Britain.
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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.