Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain: 17 July 2020

• In the past seven days, 6 in 10 adults (61%) who have left their homes have worn a face covering to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) – an increase from last week (52%).

• Just over 4 in 10 (41%) adults had family or friends visit them in their home over the last week, and for those aged over 70 years this rises to 5 in 10 (50%).

• For the first time half of working adults (50%) reported they had travelled to work in the past seven days, a slight increase on last week (48%).

• When meeting up with other people over a half of adults (55%) always maintained social distancing, with just over 1 in 20 (6%) saying they rarely or never maintained social distancing.

• Nearly 3 in 10 adults (27%) said they would be comfortable or very comfortable to eat indoors at a restaurant compared with 2 in 10 adults (20%) last week.

• Among those that had left their home, nearly 1 in 10 adults (9%) visited a barber or hair salon this week and a further 1 in 10 (10%) left home to eat or drink at a restaurant, café, bar or pub; a further 15% collected take-away food or drink from a restaurant, café, bar or pub.

This 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 8 and 12 July 2020 (inclusive). Results this week are based on 1,743 responding adults (70% 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 8 to 12 July 2020 and "last week" refers to those collected during the period 2 to 5 July 2020.

Of adults in Great Britain, over 9 in 10 (93%) said they had left their home for any reason in the past seven days, similar to last week (92%).

The most popular reason to leave home this week continues to be shopping for basic necessities, with three-quarters (74%) of those who have left their home reporting doing so. Over 2 in 10 (21%) adults also said they had shopped for non-essential items such as clothes, furniture, and so on – up from 14% last week.

This week, we asked about some activities that are now allowed in parts of Great Britain due to lockdown restrictions being lifted. Of those who left their home, nearly 1 in 10 adults (9%) visited a barber or hair salon this week and a further 1 in 10 (10%) left home to eat or drink at a restaurant, café, bar or pub. A further 15% collected take-away food or drink from a restaurant, café, bar or pub. There are differences between men and women in the reasons for leaving home and these are shown in Figure 1.

Socialising

Two-thirds of adults (67%) met up with other people to socialise this week. Of these, half of adults (49%) had met with one or two people; just over one quarter (27%) had met up with three or four people and a similar proportion had met with more than five people (23%). For those aged 70 years and over, over 4 in 10 (43%) had met with one or two people; a third (33%) had met with three or four people and nearly a quarter (24%) had met more than five people.

When meeting up with other people over a half of adults (55%) always maintained social distancing with just over 1 in 20 (6%) saying they rarely or never maintained social distancing. For those over 70 years old, over three-quarters (76%) always maintained social distancing when meeting up with other people.

Visitors at home

Alongside reasons to leave home, this week's respondents were asked if they had family or friends visit them at their own home over the last week. Just over 4 in 10 (41%) adults said they had, and for those aged over 70 years this rises to 5 in 10 (50%).

There are some differences that emerge when looking at different types of household and their location. For example, nearly 5 in 10 (48%) of households with two adults with at least one aged over 65 years had visitors last week, compared with less than 4 in 10 (37%) households with two adults aged 16 to 64 years. In England and Scotland, over 4 in 10 households had visitors this week (41% and 46%), compared with just over 2 in 10 (23%) in Wales. Restrictions on travel beyond five miles were lifted in Wales during the reference period of the survey, which might have impacted on the numbers who said they had visitors.

Face coverings

In the past seven days, 6 in 10 adults (61%) who have left their homes have worn a face covering to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) – an increase from last week (52%).

People aged over 70 years and those with an underlying condition were most likely to report wearing a face covering when outside of their home this week (73% and 72%). Women were also more likely to wear a face covering than men (66% compared with 56%).

Of those who had been shopping this week, over 4 in 10 (43%) said they had worn a face covering. This varies when looking at different groups, for example women are more likely to wear face coverings than men while shopping (49% compared with 36%). At the time of the survey it was mandatory to wear face coverings while shopping in Scotland but not in England and Wales. As Figure 3 shows, nearly 8 in 10 adults (77%) in Scotland wore face coverings shopping compared with 4 in 10 (40%) in England and 3 in 10 in Wales (30%).

Regardless of whether they had worn a face covering in the past, over 6 in 10 adults (62%) 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, 83% had worn a face covering while doing so across all of Great Britain, and the rate in England was 82%.

This week, just over a quarter of adults (27%) said they were likely or very likely to go on holiday in the UK this summer, increasing from a quarter last week (25%). However, just under 1 in 10 adults (9%) said they were likely or very likely to go on holiday abroad this summer, the same as last week. Although not directly comparable, data from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) for 2019 shows that 64% of British people took a foreign holiday in 2019 and 72% went on holiday within the UK.

As lockdown restrictions are gradually lifted, respondents were asked how comfortable they would be to eat at a restaurant either indoors or outdoors. Nearly 3 in 10 adults (27%) said they would be comfortable or very comfortable to eat indoors at a restaurant compared with 2 in 10 adults (20%) last week. Just over a half (52%) said they would be uncomfortable or very uncomfortable compared with 6 in 10 (60%) last week. This varies by sex and age, with nearly 5 in 10 men (48%) of men uncomfortable or very uncomfortable to eat indoors at a restaurant, compared with 56% of women. For those aged over 70 years, nearly 6 in 10 (58%) are uncomfortable or very uncomfortable, compared with just over half (51%) of 16- to 69-year-olds.

Nearly a half of adults (45%) said they would be comfortable or very comfortable to eat outside at a restaurant and just over 3 in 10 adults (32%) said they would be uncomfortable or very uncomfortable.

Over half of working adults (54%) said the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was having an impact on their work. This is a decrease from 56% last week.

This week, amongst adults that said they had a paid job as an employee or were self-employed or did any casual work for payment in the past seven days, 6 in 10 (60%) reported that they have had to work in new ways. Over 2 in 10 (22%) said they have had to use new equipment, and a similar proportion (20%) have had to learn new skills or take on new responsibilities. For all the reported ways that work had changed, women had been impacted more than men, as shown in Figure 5.

The same proportion of working adults said they had either worked at home or travelled to work this week, compared with last week (78%). For the first time half of working adults (50%) reported they had travelled to work in the past seven days, a slight increase on last week (48%). Just over one-quarter of adults (27%) who had worked in the last seven days said they had done so exclusively at home, slightly down on last week (30%).

Official estimates of labour market participation can be found in the Labour market overview.

More detailed information on changes to labour market participation can be found in Coronavirus and the latest indicators for the UK economy and society: 16 July 2020.

At the time of the survey, some children in England and Wales were able to return to school.

Of adults with children of school age, over 4 in 10 (43%) reported that they had been asked to send their children back to school, with over 8 in 10 (74%) of these saying that their children were now attending school some or all of the time.

For children still being homeschooled, this week they spent on average 10 hours learning – a decrease from last week (12 hours).

Of those who have homeschooled their children this week, over a half of adults (52%) said their children were struggling to continue their education at home – a fall from 62% last week. 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 homeschooling will be published in Coronavirus and homeschooling in Great Britain: April to June 2020 on Wednesday 22 July.

Almost 7 in 10 adults (67%) said they were very or somewhat worried about the effect that the coronavirus (COVID-19) was having on their life now. This has been at a similar level since the end of May.

Similarly, the proportion of adults saying their well-being has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic has been stable since April. This week 45% of adults said their wellbeing had been affected compared with 47% last week. The largest change in issues affecting wellbeing was feeling stressed or anxious, where nearly 7 in 10 adults (68%) said they experienced this, compared with under 6 in 10 (58%) last week.

Underlying health condition

In this bulletin, adults with an underlying health condition include those with:

• Alzheimer's disease or dementia

• angina or long-term heart problem

• asthma

• a learning disability such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or Asperger's (Asperger syndrome)

• conditions affecting the brain and nerves, such as Parkinson's disease

• cancer

• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or long-term lung problem

• diabetes

• kidney or liver disease

• a weakened immune system such as the result of conditions as HIV and AIDS, or medicines such as steroid tablets or treatment for cancer

• problems with your spleen – for example, sickle cell disease, or if you have had your spleen removed

• being overweight (having a BMI of 40 or above)

• given an organ transplant

• stroke or cerebral haemorrhage or cerebral thrombosis

• rheumatoid arthritis

Working adults

For this survey, a person is said to be a "working adult" if:

• they had a paid job, either as an employee or self-employed

• they did any casual work for payment

• they did any unpaid or voluntary work in the previous week

The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) is a monthly omnibus survey. In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we have adapted the OPN to become a weekly survey used to collect data on the impact of the coronavirus on day-to-day life in Great Britain. In this wave, 2,500 individuals were sampled, with a response rate of 70% (or 1,743 individuals) for the survey conducted from 8 July to 12 July 2020.

The survey results are weighted to be a nationally representative sample for Great Britain, and data are collected using an online self-completion questionnaire. Individuals who did not want to or were unable to complete the survey online had the opportunity to take part over the phone.

Where changes in results from previous weeks or differences between groups are presented in this bulletin, associated confidence intervals, which are included in the associated datasets, indicate their significance.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) QMI.

Sampling

A sample of 2,500 households were randomly selected from those that had previously completed either the Labour Force Survey, the European Health Interview Survey or the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. From each household, one adult was selected at random but with unequal probability. Younger people were given higher selection probability than older people because of under-representation in the sample available for the survey. Further information on the sample design can be found in the OPN QMI.

Weighting

The responding sample contained 1,743 individuals (70% response rate). Survey weights were applied to make estimates representative of the population.

Weights were first adjusted for non-response and attrition. Subsequently, the weights were calibrated to satisfy population distributions considering the following factors: sex by age, region, tenure, and highest qualification, employment status, National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) group and smoking status. For age, sex and region, population totals based on projections of mid-year population estimates for July 2020 were used. The resulting weighted sample is therefore representative of the Great Britain adult population by a number of socio-demographic factors and geography.

The main strengths of the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) include:

• it allows for timely production of data and statistics that can respond quickly to changing needs

• it meets data needs: the questionnaire is developed with customer consultation, and design expertise is applied in the development stages

• robust methods are adopted for the survey's sampling and weighting strategies to limit the impact of bias

• quality assurance procedures are undertaken throughout the analysis stages to minimise the risk of error

The main limitations of the OPN include:

• the sample size is relatively small: 2,500 individuals per week with fewer completed interviews, meaning that detailed analyses for subnational geographies and other sub-groups are not possible

• comparisons between periods and groups must be done with caution as estimates are provided from a sample survey; as such, confidence intervals are included in the datasets to present the sampling variability, which should be taken into account when assessing differences between periods, as true differences may not exist