Community Life Survey 2019/20 - Wellbeing and Loneliness
Analysis of questions from the Community Life Survey 2019/20 related to Wellbeing and Loneliness
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Background
The Community Life Survey collects information about the wellbeing of adults (16+).
In October 2018, the Prime Minister launched the government’s first loneliness strategy for England, ‘A connected society: A strategy for tackling loneliness’, with a commitment to tackle loneliness among all ages. To support the strategy’s aims to build the evidence base on loneliness, this report presents the most recent headline findings on levels of loneliness, as well as support networks and social networks.
The Community Life Survey uses the Government Statistical Service (GSS) harmonised principle of loneliness to measure levels of loneliness. The estimates presented here are therefore comparable with other surveys that use this principle. Other statistical data sets that use this definition, and therefore have comparative data, are available from the GSS guidance page.
Headline Measures – 2019/20
- Average scores for life satisfaction, the extent to how worthwhile the respondent felt things in their life were , and happiness have remained stable since 2013/14 but the average score for anxiety has increased from 3.5 to 3.7 since 2018/19
- 6% of respondents said they felt lonely often/always
- Loneliness is higher for women, 16-24 year olds and those with a long term limiting illness or disability
Further Data
- Measures of National Well-being Dashboard, which monitors and reports on multiple well-being measures
- Chapter 1 of the Community Life Survey provides estimates on support networks and methods of communicating with friends and family
- In January 2019, DCMS published the first ‘Community Life Survey: Focus on Loneliness’ report. This used data from the 2017/18 survey, giving more detailed breakdowns by demographics and looking at the link between loneliness and other measures from the survey, such as volunteering and community engagement.
- In December 2018, the Office for National Statistics published analysis titled: Children’s and young people’s experiences of loneliness: 2018, using in-depth interviews, the Community Life Survey 2016-17 and Good Childhood Index Survey, 2018. This analysis provides further statistics on loneliness among children and young people, as well as findings from qualitative interviews to help understand more about the lived experience of loneliness among 16-24 year olds.
- In April 2018, The Office for National statistics published an article titled ‘Loneliness: What characteristics and circumstances are associated with feeling lonely?’ which includes further demographic breakdowns, as well as presenting distinct profiles of loneliness, using the 2016-17 Community Life Survey data
- In July 2017, Sense produced a report titled ‘Someone cares if I’m not there’, looking into how loneliness affects people with various forms of disability. The report brings together a range of disability charities to highlight the issue of loneliness for disabled people.