The impact of living under lockdown

The impact of living under lockdown

New data from the Office for National Statistics shows how the impact of Covid-19 continues to change, week to week, meaning an evolving picture of experiences and attitudes.

Coronavirus is still the major feature in people’s lives in the UK, says the new survey, but general levels of ‘worry’ have started to decrease: three-quarters of adults said they were very worried or somewhat worried about the effects on the pandemic on their life, compared with 80% last week. Concerns over getting groceries have fallen from 37% to 28.5%; and on the sense of wellbeing from 48% to 42% of people surveyed. People seem to be feeling better about their finances: the number of people unable to save any money has fallen from 30% to 25%; and struggling to pay bills from 16% to 10%.

“In-between the headline figures, though, are signs of issues employers need to be aware of,” says Eugene Farrell, EAPA chair.

“There’s the increase in those working more hours – rising from 10.4% to 14.1%, for example. It’s difficult to fathom why. It could be a concern over future work, maybe poor discipline or perhaps employers driving harder? Levels of uncertainty over job security are still high. More people continue to be furloughed: up from one in five employees to to nearly one in three.

“The long-term impact of Covid-19 is increasingly a concern. The proportion of people who feel able to make plans has fallen from around a half to 44.3%. Around 40% of parents are worried about how home schooling is affecting the wellbeing of their children (up from 32%). There’s a realisation that returning to a form of ‘normality’ will take longer than previously thought. Around half of adults believe it will be longer than six months, compared with one in three after the first week of lockdown.”