Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain: 25 June 2021

This week, over the period 16 to 20 June 2021, based on adults in Great Britain:

• Around 7 in 10 adults said they always or often maintained social distancing (69% this week, 66% last week) or avoided physical contact when outside their home (72% this week, 71% last week). These proportions had previously decreased as lockdown restrictions eased.
• Compliance with other measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) remained high, for example, reporting using a face covering when outside the home (97% this week, 96% last week), or handwashing when returning home from a public place (86% this week, 85% last week).
• The proportion of adults reporting meeting up indoors (44% this week, 46% last week) or outdoors (60% this week, 63% last week) with someone not in their household, childcare or support bubble in the past seven days decreased slightly this week following previous increases in these proportions as lockdown restrictions eased.
• The proportion of working adults reporting travelling to work exclusively in the past seven days remained relatively similar (49% this week, 48% last week) having previously increased from mid-February (34% in the period 10 to 14 February 2021); the proportion both working from home and travelling to work (15% this week, 16% last week) in the past seven days has also increased compared to mid-February (10% in the period 10 to 14 February).
• Personal well-being measures of life satisfaction (7.1 this week and last week) and feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile (7.3 this week, 7.4 last week) have remained relatively stable since early May 2021; happiness levels appear to have slightly decreased in recent weeks (7.1 this week, 7.2 last week); anxiety levels appear to have slightly increased in recent weeks (3.8 this week, 3.7 last week).
• Around 1 in 12 (8% this week, 7% last week) adults felt life would never return to normal; this is the highest this proportion has been since October 2020.
• Positive sentiment towards a COVID-19 vaccine remained high, as 96% of adults reported they had now either received a vaccine or would be likely to have a vaccine if offered (95% last week); positive vaccine sentiment among people aged 16 to 29 years old was 93% (89% last week), the highest this proportion has been since the start of the vaccination programme in December 2020.
• Over 8 in 10 (84%) adults reported to have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (83% last week), which includes 6 in 10 (62%) adults reporting to have received their second dose (60% last week).

Throughout this update:

• "this week" refers to responses collected during the period 16 to 20 June 2021
• "last week" refers to responses collected during the period 9 to 13 June 2021

Compliance with measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19

The proportion of adults who reported they always or often maintained social distancing with people outside their household increased slightly this week (69% this week, 66% last week) having previously been gradually decreasing following the easing of lockdown restrictions around social contact in England from 29 March 2021 (86% in the period 24 to 28 March 2021).

The proportion of adults who reported they avoided physical contact when outside their home was similar to last week (72% this week, 71% last week) having also previously been gradually decreasing following the easing of lockdown restrictions around social contact (87% in the period 24 to 28 March).

Compliance with other measures to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) remained high, for example, reporting using a face covering when outside the home (97% this week, 96% last week, 97% in the period 24 to 28 March 2021), or handwashing when returning home from a public place (86% this week, 85% last week, 89% in the period 24 to 28 March 2021).

Table 1: Main indicators

Great Britain, up to 20 June 2021

Notes:

1. "Latest" refers to responses collected during the period 16 to 20 June 2021.
2. Any breaks in the series shown are due to questions not being asked for this period.
3. The axes for each timeline are not comparable and as such should be treated with caution when interpreting the extent of changes over time between each indicator.

Further statistics on compliance with measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, including trends over time, can be found in Tables 1a to 6 of the Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain dataset.

Meeting up indoors and outdoors

The proportion of adults reporting meeting up indoors (44% this week, 46% last week) or outdoors (60% this week, 63% last week) with someone not in their household, childcare or support bubble in the past seven days decreased slightly this week following previous increases in these proportions as lockdown restrictions eased (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Less than half (44%) of adults met up indoors with someone outside their household, childcare or support bubble in the past seven days

Adults in Great Britain, January to June 2021

Notes:

1. Question: "Excluding work or education, in the past seven days, have you met up or socialised with anyone from outside your household, support or childcare bubble?"
2. Base: all adults.
3. Questions asked about meeting indoors and outdoors changed from the period 17 to 21 March onwards so interpretation of this time series should be made with caution. For more information please see the datasets associated with this bulletin.

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Travel to work

The proportion of working adults reporting travelling to work exclusively in the past seven days remained relatively similar (49% this week, 48% last week) having previously increased from mid-February (34% in the period 10 to 14 February 2021). The opposite trend is seen for the proportion of working adults reporting working from home exclusively (22% this week, 23% last week) having decreased from mid-February (37% in the period 10 to 14 February 2021).

The proportion of working adults reporting both working from home and travelling to work (15% this week, 16% last week) in the past seven days has increased compared to in mid-February (10% in the period 10 to 14 February) (Figure 2).

More information on the attitudes towards the future of homeworking is available in this article.

Personal well-being measures of life satisfaction (7.1 this week and last week) and feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile (7.3 this week, 7.4 last week) have been relatively stable from early May 2021 and remain below February 2020 pre-pandemic levels (7.3 and 7.6 respectively).

Having gradually improved to just above pre-pandemic levels (7.2) in early June (7.3 in the period 2 to 6 June 2021), happiness levels appear to have slightly decreased in recent weeks (7.1 this week, 7.2 last week). Similarly, anxiety levels, having been at 3.6 in the period 2 to 6 June 2021, appear to have slightly increased in recent weeks (3.8 this week, 3.7 last week) (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Levels of life satisfaction and feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile remain relatively stable

Adults in Great Britain, March 2020 to June 2021

Notes:

1. Questions: "Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?", "Overall, to what extent do you feel that the things you do in your life are worthwhile?", "Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?" and "Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?"
2. Base: all adults.
3. These questions are answered on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is "not at all" and 10 is "completely".

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This week, around 2 in 10 (21%) adults reported that they felt life would return to normal in six months or less (22% last week).

This proportion appears to have gradually decreased in recent weeks, having been 27% in the period 12 to 16 May 2021. This period was before the introduction of step 3 of the Roadmap out of lockdown and before the announcement that there will be a 4 week pause (up to 19 July 2021) on step 4 of the roadmap that will remove legal limits on social contact in England.

Around 1 in 12 (8% this week, 7% last week) adults this week felt life would never return to normal; this is the highest this proportion has been since October 2020 (8% in the period 14 to 18 October 2020).

Around 3 in 10 (29% this week, 27% last week) adults reported they felt it will take more than a year for life to return to normal (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Around 1 in 12 (8%) adults felt life would never return to normal

Adults in Great Britain, March 2020 to June 2021

Notes:

1. Question: "How long do you think it will be before your life returns to normal?"
2. Base: all adults.
3. Response categories of "7 to 12 months", "Not sure" and "Prefer not to say" are not shown on this chart.
4. Proportions of less than 1% are not included on this chart.

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Further statistics on well-being, loneliness, perceptions of the future and worries, including trends over time, can be found in Table 1b, Table 7 and Table 8 of the Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain dataset.

This week, 96% of adults reported positive vaccine sentiment (95% last week). This included adults who had received at least one dose of a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, adults who said they would be very or fairly likely to have a vaccine if offered and adults who have been offered and are currently waiting to receive a vaccine.

From 17 June 2021, all adults aged over 18 are now able to book a COVID-19 vaccine in England. Figure 5 shows how vaccination sentiment among different age groups has changed since early December 2020:

• over 9 in 10 (93%) people aged 16 to 29 years reported positive vaccine sentiment this week (89% last week), the highest this proportion has been since we started asking about it on this survey; this proportion was 63% at the start of the vaccination programme in December 2020.
• over 9 in 10 (94%) people aged 30 to 49 years reported positive vaccine sentiment (95% last week); this proportion was 74% at the start of the vaccination programme in December 2020.

Figure 5: Over 9 in 10 (93%) of people aged 16 to 29 years have received or would be likely to accept a COVID-19 vaccine if offered

Adults in Great Britain, December 2020 to June 2021

Notes:

1. Questions: "Have you received a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19)?", "Have you been offered a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19)?" and "If a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19) was offered to you, how likely or unlikely would you be to have the vaccine?"
2. Base: all adults.
3. Questions asked about attitudes toward the COVID-19 vaccination have changed over the survey periods shown so interpretation of this time series should be made with caution. For more information please see the datasets associated with this bulletin.
4. Categories of "Adults who have been offered and declined the vaccine or would be very or fairly unlikely to have the vaccine if offered", "Neither", "Don't know" and "Prefer not to say" are not shown on this chart.
5. For the periods 10 to 14 February, 12 to 16 May, 26 to 31 May and 2 to 6 June, the 99% indicated on the chart for those aged 70 years and above represent a proportion of greater than 99% but less than 100%.

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The 96% of all adults in Great Britain this week who reported positive vaccine sentiment¹ is made up of those who reported that they either:

• had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (84%), which includes over 6 in 10 (62%) adults having received a second dose
• had been offered a vaccine and were awaiting their first dose (6%)
• had not yet been offered a vaccine but were likely (very or fairly likely) to have one when offered (6%)

The 93% of adults aged 16 to 29 years old in Great Britain this week who reported positive vaccine sentiment is made up of those who reported that they either:

• had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (42%), which includes almost 2 in 10 (18%) adults having received a second dose
• had been offered a vaccine and were awaiting their first dose (24%)
• had not yet been offered a vaccine but were likely (very or fairly likely) to have one when offered (28%) (Figure 6)

Figure 6: Over 6 in 10 (62%) of all adults reported they had received a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine

Adults in Great Britain, 16 to 20 June 2021

Notes:

1. Questions: "Have you received a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19)?", "Have you been offered a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19)?" and "If a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19) was offered to you, how likely or unlikely would you be to have the vaccine?"
2. Base: all adults.
3. Totals may not sum to 100% because of rounding and because proportions of less than 1% are not included in this chart.

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Notes for: Attitudes to COVID-19 vaccination

1. Totals for the combined category of "positive vaccine sentiment" or "vaccine hesitancy" may appear to be different than if combining the individual category estimates shown in Figure 4 because of rounding.

This release contains data and indicators from a module being undertaken through the Office for National Statistics' (ONS') Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) to understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on British society.

Breakdowns by age, sex, region and country, including confidence intervals for the estimates, are contained in the Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain dataset.

Where changes in results from previous weeks are presented in this bulletin, associated confidence intervals should be used to assess the statistical significance of the differences.

Positive vaccine sentiment

"Positive vaccine sentiment" refers to adults who:

• have received a vaccine
• have been offered a vaccine and are waiting to be vaccinated
• report being very or fairly likely to have a vaccine if offered

Our survey does not include adults living in care homes or other establishments so will not capture vaccinations in these settings. Because of small sample sizes, the percentage of adults who have declined the vaccine should be treated with caution.

Estimates of attitudes towards vaccination provided since 13 to 17 January 2021 should be used with caution when compared with any weeks prior to this. In the weeks prior to this, adults were asked their likelihood of having a vaccine if offered but were not specifically asked if they had already been offered or received a vaccine.

Sampling and weighting

This week, 16 to 20 June 2021, we sampled 6,024 households. These were randomly selected from those that had previously completed the Labour Market Survey (LMS) or Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN). The responding sample contained 4,138 individuals, representing a 69% response rate.

Survey weights were applied to make estimates representative of the population (based June 2021 population estimates).

Further information on the survey design and quality can be found in the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey Quality and Methodology Information.