Almost 8million Brits saw their mental health affected by lockdown
Almost 8million Brits and HALF of under-25s have been affected by ‘lockdown loneliness’, official data suggests
- Survey respondents were asked about their wellbeing during the pandemic
- Of more than 5,000 adults, 46% said their wellbeing had dipped in the past week
- Some 31 per cent said it got worse in April because of loneliness specifically
- The young, single or divorced and renting people struggled the most
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
The wellbeing of almost 8million Britons was affected by loneliness caused by the government’s coronavirus lockdown, official data suggests.
A survey by the Office for National Statistics of more than 5,500 people suggested 14.3 per cent of the population — or 7.4million people – have suffered loneliness in the past seven days.
Statisticians revealed this group of people, dubbed the ‘lockdown lonely’, tend to be young, single or divorced, and renting.
Half of those aged 16 to 24 were affected by ‘lockdown loneliness’, according to the survey, compared to just a quarter of those around their 60s.
Separate findings of the same survey, carried out on 5,000 Brits, revealed 5 per cent were ‘chronically lonely’ and admitted they felt alone ‘often or always’.
Lonely people in the survey reported feeling more stressed or anxious than the average person, and were spending more time alone without anyone to listen to their problems
People across the board noted that the coronavirus impact on well-being was their biggest concern, but this was seen more clearly among those who were chronically lonely or lockdown lonely
Lockdown loneliness and chronic loneliness affected life satisfaction and happiness
The data from The Opinions and Lifestyle Survey was collected from April 3 to May 3 and involved 5,260 adults.
Everyone in the survey was asked ‘How often do you feel lonely?’. Five per cent of said they were suffering chronic loneliness, which means they are lonely ‘often or always’ and not just in the past seven days.
This equates to 2.6million people across Great Britain.
BAME workers and single parent families have been the worst affected groups by the coronavirus pandemic, according to new research.
Research from the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex shows that more BAME workers have lost their jobs after being furloughed than non-BAME groups.
Meanwhile, the loss in weekly earnings for single parents families is over twice as much as the loss for families with more than one adult and children.
Over 17,000 people aged between 20 and 65 took part in the regular survey ‘Understanding Society’, one of the largest household surveys in the world.
While the average earnings for non-BAME groups fell from £547-a-week in February to £503-a-week in April, those from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups have seen their weekly earnings drop from £441 to £404 in the same time period.
And of those BAME workers who suffered from a decline in working hours due to the global pandemic, nearly 31 per cent lost their jobs compared to just 7 per cent for non-BAME workers.
The struggle for single parent families has been revealed in the ISER survey, with their average weekly earnings dropping from £326 in February to £253 in April, a loss of £73.
Meanwhile, families with more than one parent and children have lost £36 on a weekly basis between the same months, with wages falling from £511-a-week to £475-a-week.
Thomas Crossley, the associate director for scientific content of the survey, said: ‘These new data shows us that the economic shocks caused by the pandemic have affected unevenly across the UK.
‘We know from this first look at the data that twice as many people expect their financial situation to get worse as those who expect it to get better.
‘This rises to three times as many in the lowest income bracket, and among single parents.’
As well as suffering from financial hardship, Britons BAME individuals are more likely to die from coronavirus.
A second part of the survey measured ‘lockdown loneliness’ – which is loneliness in the past seven days.
Only people who said their well-being had been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and that they were worried about how their life would be impacted, were asked if they had been lonely in the past seven days.
Of 2,440 adults eligible for this question, 30.9 per cent reported their well-being had been affected due to loneliness.
Had this question been asked of all respondents, the ONS estimated 14.3 per cent would say their well-being had suffered due to lockdown loneliness.
This equates to 7.4million of the adult population in Great Britain.
The ‘lockdown lonely’ reported much lower levels of life satisfaction, worthiness and feelings of happiness on a ten-point scale compared with the average person.
And their overall well-being scores were lower than the typical Brit, according to the ONS data, released today.
Brits aged 16 to 24 were twice as likely to have had lockdown loneliness, compared to adults aged between 55 and 69.
Half of adults under 25 reported lockdown loneliness. In contrast, the rate was only 24 per cent among adults aged 55 to 69.
This echoes previous research exploring chronic loneliness showing that people in younger age groups were most likely to report feeling alone.
However, the oldest people – those aged 70 years and over – were no less likely than average to report lockdown loneliness.
Half of those who were single, widowed, divorced or separated from a partner felt lonely during lockdown.
Meanwhile, the ONS data showed that only 16.5 per cent of people living with their partner said they were lonely.
Almost four in ten of those living in rented housing were lonely in lockdown, which the ONS said may be linked to the fact they live alone or do not have a garden.
A quarter of people in rented homes in England do not have access to a garden. The rate is just four per cent for those who own their homes.
And it wasn’t possible for people to meet up with anyone they do not live with until mid-May because of the strict Covid-19 lockdown rules.
The ‘lockdown lonely’ may also feel they do not have anyone to turn to – less than half agreed that they had a community to support them compared with two-thirds in the general population.
Both the chronically lonely and the lockdown lonely cited the impact of the coronavirus on their well-being as their single biggest concern.
Among the chronically lonely, 44.8 per cent said they feared the impact of the pandemic on their wellbeing, compared with 41.1 per cent for the lockdown lonely.
Characteristics of people who said they felt lonely either during lockdown or chronically
People who are lonely say they find it difficult to keep themselves busy and cope with the lockdown. Gardening, along with cooking, exercising or spending time with family, is considered a coping mechanism for loneliness. But a quarter of people in rented homes in England do not have access to a garden compared to four per cent of those who own their homes, and it wasn’t possible to see family members outside your own household for weeks
Dawn Snape, assistant director of sustainability and inequalities division, ONS, said: ‘The ONS has been researching people’s well-being for nearly a decade, providing a different perspective on how our country is doing, and on social inequalities.
‘Lockdown affected everyone, but responses differed. During that first month, the equivalent of 7.4million people said their well-being was affected through feeling lonely.
”’Lonely’ people were more likely than others to be struggling to find things to help them cope and were also less likely to feel they had support networks to fall back on.’
Levels of chronic loneliness does not seem to have changed significantly as a result of lockdown. But notably, 6.3 per cent of survey respondents said they had both chronic and lockdown loneliness.
The chronically lonely were more likely than the lockdown lonely to say that their mental health had been affected – 62.5 per cent compared with 45.8 per cent.
They also reported even lower levels of life satisfaction, happiness and feeling life is worthwhile than those who just had lockdown loneliness.
Working-age adults living alone were more likely to report loneliness both ‘often or always’ and over the past seven days than the average adult.
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