Friday 12 August 2022 03:13 PM Britons are LESS happy than during pandemic: More people worry about their ... trends now
Britons are less happy now than they were during some parts of the pandemic, shock official figures show.
More people are concerned about their physical and mental health than they were in mid-2020, just months after the coronavirus outbreak sent the country into its first lockdown.
And Britons are struggling more with relationships and loneliness than ever before.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been surveying thousands of Britons about their life satisfaction for more than a decade.
Latest figures show just three in 10 (30 per cent) rated their happiness as 'very high' in the first three months of this year — lower than most of 2021 and three months of 2020.
Positivity levels peaked at 34 per cent around the original 'Freedom Day' in July 2021 — when the final Covid restrictions from the previous winter were eased.
Results suggest there are rising concerns about health, with 47 per cent saying they are happy with their health, compared to 51 per cent pre-pandemic.
More people have also reported feeling more anxious than they did pre-pandemic (two-third), while loneliness (one in 15) and anxiety (two-thirds) are also on the rise.
Statisticians note that the happiness and anxiety figures only cover up to the spring, while the others go to 2021, so don't cover the whole pandemic or recent cost of living crisis that is expected to cause misery for millions.
Spiralling food and energy bills are 'becoming a major source of concern for the public' which can be expected to knock down people's attitudes, the ONS said.
However, the agency found that people 'feel well connected' to those around them, while people are reporting better job satisfaction and work/life balance.
In the first three months of 2022, the ONS asked thousands of over-16s: 'Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?' The results, shown on the graph, reveal just three in 10 people (30.5 per cent) rated their happiness as 'very high'. The rate is lower than at several points in the last two years, when the country was gripped by the coronavirus
The newly-published happiness data is part of the ONS quality of life in the UK survey. Results also show that anxiety is now higher than it was compared to some points of the pandemic. Just a third of people (34.1 per cent) in the first quarter of the year rated their anxiety as 'very low' — fewer than the two previous summer (bottom right). Meanwhile, overall life satisfaction and feelings of worthwhile have dropped off (top left)
The proportion of people who are in 'fairly' or 'extremely' unhappy relationships has increased from 3.6 per cent in 2015/16 to 4.3 per cent in 2019/20 (top graph). And the rate reporting that they feel lonely 'often' or 'always' increased from 5.4 per cent in 2016/17 to 6.5 per cent in 2020/21 (bottom graph). But the ONS says the 'incremental' jumps are not statistically significant, with the trend largely flat
In the first three months of 2022, the ONS asked 27,430 over-16s: 'Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?'
At the time of the survey, the Omicron wave was on the decline and Plan B measures — with masks, Covid pass and work from home guidance in place — were being phased out.
Just three in 10 people (30.5 per cent) rated their happiness as 'very high'.
The rate is lower than at several points in the last two years, when the country was gripped by the coronavirus.
Between July and October 2020, 32.5 per cent of people reported they felt very happy.
The summer months saw the first Covid restrictions ease, with pubs, restaurants and bars allowed to reopen for the firs time since March.
By August, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak
