Well-being

Societal and personal well-being in the UK looking at areas such as health, relationships, education and skills, what we do, where we live, our finances and the environment.

Spotlight

Quality of life in the UK: May 2023

What's in the bulletin?

The percentage of adults in the UK reporting very high levels of life satisfaction decreased in the latest quarter (Quarter 4, October to December 2022) to 23.3%, compared with 25.2% in the same quarter last year (Quarter 4 2021); while adults reporting very high levels of feeling things they do in life are worthwhile (32.1%), and happiness (29.4%) and very low levels of anxiety (33.8%) remained similar between Quarter 4 2022 and Quarter 4 2021.
Between 22 March and 16 April 2023, 86.3% of adults in Great Britain reported that they can rely on people in their life if they have a serious problem and 66.8% said that in general, they trust most people.
Between 22 March and 16 April 2023, 24.5% of adults in Great Britain reported they trust the UK government while 69.3% of adults agreed or strongly agreed that they do not have any say in what the government does.

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Individual and community well-being, Great Britain: October 2022

What's in the bulletin?

Adults in Great Britain mentioned family members and their welfare (45.5%) and physical or mental health (45.0%) most often as factors important for their individual well-being.
The percentage of adults mentioning physical or mental health increased with age, while the percentage mentioning friends or a community and relationships or social interactions lowered.
Those reporting low personal well-being were, on average, less likely to view health as important for their individual well-being (39.5%, compared with 48.9% of those not reporting low personal well-being); this may be as those aged 16 to 29 years and 30 to 49 years, who are less likely to prioritise health, made the majority of those reporting low well-being.

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Measures of National Well-being Dashboard: Quality of Life in the UK

Bringing together the latest national well-being data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and other sources to give an overview of how the UK is doing across the 10 areas of life that the UK public told us matter most.

Datasets related to Well-being

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.
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.
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.
Coronavirus and loneliness

Analysis of loneliness in Great Britain during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.
Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain

The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people, households and communities in Great Britain – indicators from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN).
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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Publications related to Well-being

Statistical bulletins

Personal well-being in the UK: April 2021 to March 2022

Estimates of life satisfaction, feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile, happiness and anxiety at the UK, country, regional, county, local and unitary authority level.
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.
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.
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.
Social capital in the UK: April 2020 to March 2021

How the UK fared in the four domains of social capital - personal relationships, social network support, civic engagement, and trust and cooperative norms - during April 2020 to March 2021. Sub-population breakdowns by sex, age, ethnicity, disability status, religious status, National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC), urban and rural area, and ITL1 regions are included for the first time in the accompanying data tables.
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.

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Articles

Subnational indicators explorer

Use our interactive tool to find out more about your local authority.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Overview of human capital estimates in the UK

National estimates of human capital stock in the UK for years between 2004 and 2020. Includes full and employed human capital estimates for each year.