We’ve published our latest data on the social impacts of the coronavirus, for the period 3-13 March, at which point most restrictions and guidance to manage the spread of #COVD19 in Great Britain had been lifted.
33% of adults reported being very or somewhat worried about the pandemic’s impact on their lives right now. This is the lowest level since the pandemic began.
At its highest (over the period 20 to 30 March 2020), this was 86% .
60% of adults travelled to work exclusively, between 3-13 March 2022.
This is the highest proportion since we began measuring this in May 2020, when it was 29%.
The proportion of those social distancing is at its lowest since we began collecting data.
In the latest period, 28% of adults reported always or often maintaining social distancing, compared with 76% in September 2020.
Around 8 in 10 (83%) reported increases in cost of living.
In response the most common actions were:
▪️to reduce spending on non-essentials(55%)
▪️use less gas or electricity at home(43%)
▪️shop around more(38%)
▪️reduce non-essential journeys(35%)
We’ve published our latest Health Index for England, which gives insights into England’s health before #COVID19 at national and regional level ow.ly/slH350ImqBL
In 2019, health in England was similar to 2015, according to our overall Health Index score.
The picture for the underlying domains of Healthy People, Healthy Lives and Healthy Places was more varied.
Health risk factors for children and young people is the topic showing greatest improvement pre-pandemic, while crime in 2019 shows the worst results compared with 2015.
The system average price of gas increased by 15% in the week to 13 Mar 2022, according to @NationalGridUK data ⛽
This is now almost three times higher than it was six months ago, on 12 Sept 2021 ow.ly/L2bK50ImqkC
83% of adults said their cost of living increased over the last month (3-13 Mar 2022), according to our Opinions and Lifestyle survey.
The most reported reasons continued to be:
🛒rising food shop prices (90%)
🧾rising energy bills (83%)
⛽increases to the price of fuel (79%)
The percentage of businesses currently trading who reported that the prices of materials, goods or services bought in the last month had increased, was 47% in March 2022.
This is up from 39% in February 2022, according to our Business Insights and Conditions survey.
Today’s #COVID19 data shows increases in infections across all four nations of the UK ⬇ ow.ly/b05t50IgX0v
#COVID19 infection rates remained high across all regions of England.
Increases were seen in
▪️the North West
▪️East Midlands
▪️West Midlands
▪️East of England
▪️and London
in the week ending 5 March 2022.
Infection rates increased in England for those aged 25 years and over and decreased in those aged school Year 7 to 11, in the week ending 5 March 2022.
When you think about your income, spending, savings, and any property you own, do you consider yourself richer or poorer than average? 💰
Use our new calculator which compares your financial situation with other households (data is from pre #COVID19) 🧮 ow.ly/bYZ650IeIJp
1 in 3 households spent more than their income before #COVID19 💳
Some households may be able to maintain higher spending by using financial buffers accumulated over their lifetime, but others may need to make cutbacks, or borrow, to make up the shortfall.
Smaller households were the most likely to be spending more than their income and those not retired lacked a sufficient financial buffer.
A financial buffer is made up of cash (money in current accounts), savings and other easy-to-access assets such as shares.