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Indicators from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey covering the period 25 June to 28 June 2020 to understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people, households and communities in Great Britain.
This is the latest release. View previous releases
Almost 8 in 10 working adults (78%) said they had either worked at home or travelled to work this week, a similar level to last week (77%).
Nearly half of working adults (49%) said they had travelled to work at some point in the past seven days, up from 44% last week and 41% the previous week.
Working adults continue to move away from exclusively working at home, which has dropped to 29%, from 33% last week.
Over 4 in 10 adults (43%) who have left their homes this week have worn a face covering to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), a similar level to the past two weeks.
Of those adults who had used public transport in the past seven days, 86% had worn a face covering while doing so across all of Great Britain, while 91% had in England.
The proportion of adults saying their well-being has been affected (45%) was broadly the same as last week, although fewer are reporting issues that may be associated with lockdown restrictions, such as feeling bored, spending time alone or finding working from home difficult.
1 in 20 adults (5%) reported that they found it difficult or very difficult to pay usual household bills prior to the coronavirus pandemic; since the pandemic, this has risen to over 1 in 10 (11%) adults.
2.Understanding the impact on societyThis weekly bulletin contains data and indicators from a new module being undertaken through the Office for National Statistics' (ONS's) Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) to understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on British society. The statistics in this publication are based on a survey of 2,500 adults aged 16 years and over in Great Britain conducted between 25 and 28 June 2020 (inclusive). Results this week are based on 1,994 responding adults (80% response rate). It contains breakdowns of results by sex and for identified "at-risk" groups that have been advised to take additional precautions. This includes those aged 70 years and over and those with certain underlying health conditions. The full list of conditions is included in the Glossary. This bulletin presents a summary of results, with further data including confidence intervals for the estimates contained in the associated datasets. Where changes in results from previous weeks, or differences between groups are presented in this bulletin, associated confidence intervals should be used to assess the statistical significance of the change. Not all differences commented on in this bulletin are statistically significant. Throughout this bulletin, "this week" refers to responses collected during the period 25 to 28 June 2020 and "last week" refers to those collected during the period 18 to 21 June 2020. Back to table of contents
3.Leaving homeOf adults in Great Britain, over 9 in 10 (91%) said they had left their home for any reason in the past seven days, a decrease when compared with last week (94%). Lower proportions of those aged 70 years and over reported that they had left their home this week (83%).
!Official guidance on staying at home varies across England, Wales and Scotland. This section gives the reasons people are leaving their home, but an estimate of compliance is not provided.
The most popular reason to leave home this week continues to be shopping for basic necessities, with 79% of those who have left their home reporting doing so. Over 1 in 10 (12%) adults also said they had shopped for non-essential items such as clothes, furniture, and so on - the same level as last week.
It should be noted responses to the survey were collected after non-essential shops could re-open in England on 15 June and Wales on 22 June, but before shops in Scotland were permitted to re-open on 29 June.
Almost 1 in 10 (8%) adults that had left their home this week did so to visit an outdoor beauty spot or beach, an increase from 5% last week.
Figure 1: The most common reason for leaving home continues to be shopping for basic necessities
Great Britain, 25 to 28 June 2020
18 to 21 June
25 to 28 June
To shop for basic necessitiesFor exercise for example a run walk or cycleTravelling to and from workMeeting up with people in a personal placeMeeting up with people in a public placeTo run errandsFor any medical need or to provide care or to help a vulnerable personTo shop for other thingsTo go to a garden centreTo visit an outdoor beauty spot or beachTo take children to or from schoolTo do leisure activitiesOther (please specify)For voluntary workTo visit a tourist attractionTravel within the UK for holidays or short breaksTaking part in a regular indoor activity
020406080100
%
To do leisure activities
● 18 to 21 June: 3.8
● 25 to 28 June: 6.2
Source: Office for National Statistics – Opinions and Lifestyle Survey
Notes:
Question: In the past seven days, for what reasons have you left your home?
Respondents were asked to select all that apply.
The values for "travel within the UK for holidays or short breaks"; “travel outside of the UK for work”; “travel outside of the UK for holidays or short breaks” and “to visit a library” have been suppressed for either last week, or this week and last week because of small sample size. 4. Base population: adults that said they had left their home in the past seven days.
Download this chart Image .csv .xls Face coverings In the past seven days, over 4 in 10 adults (43%) who have left their homes have worn a face covering to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) - a similar level to last week (44%). Women and those aged over 70 years were most likely to report wearing a face covering when outside of their home this week (49%), followed by adults with an underlying health condition (46%). For those that had worn a face covering, the most common situation was while shopping (61%), followed by visiting a health or medical centre (23%). Regardless of whether they had worn a face covering in the past, half of adults (50%) said they were either very or fairly likely to wear one in the next seven days. It became mandatory to wear face coverings on public transport in England on 15 June. Of those adults who had used public transport in the past seven days, 86% had worn a face covering while doing so across all of Great Britain, while 91% had in England. Repairs and work in the home This week we asked people how comfortable they felt having someone in their home to carry out emergency repairs, or non-emergency work. Over half of adults (51%) said they felt either very comfortable or comfortable having someone come into their home to carry out an emergency repair such as fixing a boiler, or electrics. However, less than 4 in 10 (37%) adults felt comfortable or very comfortable to have someone in their home to carry out non-emergency work - and 42% reported feeling either uncomfortable or very uncomfortable in this scenario. More about coronavirus Find the latest on coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK. All ONS analysis, summarised in our coronavirus roundup. View all coronavirus data. Find out how we are working safely in our studies and surveys. Back to table of contents
4.WorkOver half of working adults (52%) said the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was having an impact on their work. This has fallen from 61% last week. The most common impacts reported were:
being furloughed
a decrease in hours worked
being worried about health and safety at work
Almost 8 in 10 (78%) working adults said they had either worked at home or travelled to work this week, a similar level to last week (77%). The proportion of working adults who reported they had travelled to work in the past seven days increased to 49% this week from 44% last week and 41% the week before.
Almost 3 in 10 of adults (29%) who had worked in the last seven days said they had done so exclusively at home - a decrease from 33% last week. This supplements findings from the latest Business Impacts of Coronavirus Survey (BICS) collected between 15 and 28 June, where businesses continuing to trade reported 2% of the total workforce had returned from remote working in the two weeks prior to completing their questionnaire.
Official estimates of labour market participation can be found in the Labour market overview.
Figure 2: A larger proportion of workers are travelling to work this week when compared with previous weeks
Great Britain, 25 to 28 June 2020
Neither worked from home nor travelled to work - other
Neither worked from home nor travelled to work - furloughed
Travelled to work only
Both worked from home and travelled to work
Worked from home only
21 to 24 May28 to 31 May4 to 7 June11 to 14 June18 to 21 June25 to 28 June
0255075100
%
Source: Office for National Statistics – Opinions and Lifestyle Survey
Notes:
Base population for percentage: all adults in employment. This definition is different to some other surveys and is included in the Glossary.
The main reasons for respondents neither working from home nor travelling to work (other) in the past seven days include temporary closure of business or workplace, on annual leave or sick leave, variable hours, being on maternity or paternity leave or being unable to work because of caring responsibilities.
Percentages may not sum to 100 because of rounding.
Download this chart Image .csv .xls We asked people who had worked from home this week why they had done so, and respondents could give more than one reason. 63% reported they had worked from home because their employer had asked them to, 42% said that they were following government advice to work from home, and 42% reported that they were working from home because their workplace was closed. This week, of the adults who had reported the coronavirus pandemic was having an impact on their work, 16% said they were concerned about their health and safety at work, which has increased from 8% last week, but is at a similar level to two weeks ago (15%). Of those people who travelled to work in the past seven days, over 4 in 10 (43%) did work that required direct physical contact with other people. Almost two-thirds (63%) of workers in this group reported either often or always wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) while at work, which has increased from 52% last week. Of those whose work did not require having direct physical contact with other people, 42% reported they had always stayed at least two metres away from others in the workplace, and an additional 39% said they had managed to do this "often" - an overall increase when compared with last week (30% and 48% respectively). Of those whose work did not require direct physical contact with others, over 3 in 10 (31%) had, however, reported they had either often or always worn PPE at work in the past seven days. More detailed information on changes to labour market participation can be found in Coronavirus and the latest indicators for the UK economy and society: 25 June 2020. Back to table of contents
5.Homeschooling and back to schoolAt the time of the survey, some children in England were able to return to school. Of adults with children of school age, 4 in 10 (40%) reported that they had been asked to send their children back to school, with almost 7 in 10 (68%) of these saying that their children were now attending school some or all of the time. Although this week there has been an increase in the proportion of adults with children who can now attend school (32% last week), the proportion whose children are attending some or all of the time has decreased from 78% last week. For children still being homeschooled, this week they spent on average 11 hours learning - a similar amount to last week (12 hours). Of those who have homeschooled their children this week, over 6 in 10 adults (62%) said their children were struggling to continue their education at home - a similar level to last week (60%). Lack of motivation, lack of guidance and support, and limited parent or carer time to support were the most common reasons for children to be struggling. A detailed analysis of the social impacts the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had on younger people, was published on Monday 22 June. Back to table of contents
6.Indicators of well-being and financesAlmost 7 in 10 adults (69%) said they were very or somewhat worried about the effect that the coronavirus (COVID-19) was having on their life now, which has increased when compared with last week (64%).
Although a similar proportion of adults said their well-being had been affected by the coronavirus pandemic this week when compared with last week (45% compared with 47%), there has been a decrease in the proportions of people reporting issues that may be associated with lockdown restrictions.
These include:
45% reporting they felt bored, compared with 60% last week
34% saying they were spending too much time alone, which has decreased from 40% last week
21% reporting there was a strain on personal relationships compared with 27% last week
13% finding working from home difficult, which has decreased from 22% last week
Figure 3: People are still concerned about the future, but smaller proportions of people are feeling stressed or anxious and bored this week
Great Britain, 25 to 28 June 2020
18-21 June
25-28 June
Feeling worried about the futureFeeling stressed or anxiousFeeling boredFeeling lonelyUnable to exercise as normalSpending too much time aloneMaking my mental health worseStrain on my personal relationshipsSpending too much time with others in householdFeeling like a burden on othersNo one to talk to about my worriesFinding working from home difficultStrain on my work relationshipsOther
010203040506070
%
Source: Office for National Statistics – Opinions and Lifestyle Survey
Notes:
Question: In the past seven days, how has your well-being being affected?
Respondents were asked to select all that apply.
Base population: adults that said coronavirus was affecting their well-being.
Download this chart Image .csv .xls This week we asked people how easy or difficult it has been to pay household bills both before and since the coronavirus pandemic. Among adults, 1 in 20 (5%) reported that they found it difficult or very difficult to pay usual household bills prior to the coronavirus pandemic . Since the pandemic, this has risen to over 1 in 10 (11%) adults. More than 1 in 10 adults (11%) reported that they have had to borrow more money or use more credit than usual since the coronavirus pandemic, and just under 3 in 10 adults (28%) said that their household would not be able to afford to pay an unexpected but necessary bill of £850. Figure 4: A larger proportion of adults are now finding it difficult or very difficult to pay usual household bills when compared with before the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak Great Britain, 25 to 28 June 2020 Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak Very easyEasyNeither easy nor difficultDifficultVery difficultNot applicableDon’t know or prefer not to say 051015.
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