Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: 3 to 14 August 2022

The following information is on the latest period, 3 to 14 August 2022, based on adults in Great Britain.

• Around 9 in 10 (89%) adults reported their cost of living had risen over the past month; this is the same as the previous period (6 to 17 July) but an increase since we first started asking this question in the period 3 to 14 November 2021 (62%).

• Around three-quarters (76%) of adults reported being very or somewhat worried about rising costs of living in the past two weeks; this estimate has remained relatively stable since we first started asking this question in the period 27 April to 8 May 2022.

• Over 4 in 10 (45%) adults who pay energy bills found it very or somewhat difficult to afford them (44% in the previous period).

• Around one in five (22%) adults travelled abroad in the last eight weeks; among those, around a third (34%) of adults reported that they experienced some form of disruption while travelling abroad in the past eight weeks.

• During the recent summer heatwave, the most common reported actions taken by all adults were drinking plenty of fluids (89%), closed curtains or blinds to keep indoor space cooler (79%) and stayed out of the sun between 11am to 3pm, where possible (65%).

Estimates in this release are based on data collected between 3 and 14 August 2022 (the "latest period") and 20 and 31 July 2022 (the "previous period").

Cost of living increases

In this period, we continued to ask adults about changes to their cost of living over the past month, with around 9 in 10 (89%) reporting it had increased in the latest period (the same as in the previous period). This is a rise from 62% when we first asked about this in the period 3 to 14 November 2021.

The main reasons reported by adults for the rise in their cost of living were an increase in the price of food shopping (96%), gas or electricity bills (82%) and the price of fuel (76%).

Of all adults, around three-quarters (76%) reported being very or somewhat worried about rising costs of living in the past two weeks; this estimate has remained relatively stable since we first asked this question in the period 27 April to 8 May 2022.

The latest estimates regarding actions people are taking because of the rising cost of living, including breakdowns by age and sex, can be found in Table 2 of our Household finances dataset.

Energy bills

Over 4 in 10 (45%) adults who pay energy bills said they found it very or somewhat difficult to afford them in the latest period (44% in the previous period).

There are strong seasonal spending patterns relating to gas and electricity that may affect the results in this section. For more information on this and recent price rises for gas and electricity, please see our latest Consumer price inflation bulletin for July 2022.

Travel abroad

This period, we asked all adults whether they had travelled abroad in the past eight weeks. We also asked about any disruption experienced while travelling abroad and the nature of this disruption.

Around one in five (22%) adults travelled abroad in the past eight weeks. Of those using various forms of transport exclusively or in combination, around 9 in 10 (88%) travelled by plane, 21% by train and 16% by boats or ferries.

Of the 22% who travelled abroad, around a third (34%) mentioned that they experienced some form of disruption.

Of those who travelled abroad by plane in the past eight weeks and experienced some form of disruption:

• four in five (80%) experienced delayed flights or more waiting time on the plane

• half (50%) reported longer than normal queues at the airport

• one in four (25%) reported cancellation of flights

• around one in four (24%) said they experienced longer waits for luggage

Further estimates regarding travel abroad and disruption, including breakdowns by age and sex, can be found in our Travel abroad dataset.

Location of work

Around two-thirds (64%) of working adults travelled to work at some point in the past seven days (65% in the previous period). This comprised:

• nearly half (46%) who only travelled to work in the past seven days (43% in the previous period)

• around one in five (18%) who reported both working from home and travelling to work (hybrid working) in the past seven days (21% in the previous period)

Among working adults who travelled to work in the past seven days, the most frequently reported methods of transport were:

• private vehicle such as a car, van or motorbike (68%)

• on foot (16%)

• bus, minibus or coach (12%)

Around one in seven (14%) working adults said they worked from home exclusively in the past seven days (16% in the previous period). A further one in five (21%) neither travelled to work nor worked from home (19% in the previous period). As a result of the data collection period covering the school summer holidays in Great Britain, this will include working adults who will be taking annual leave (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Around a fifth (18%) of working adults both worked from home and travelled to work (hybrid working) in the latest period

Working adults, Great Britain, January 2021 to August 2022

Notes:

1. Questions: "In the past seven days, have you travelled to work?" and "In the past seven days, have you worked from home?"
2. Base: working adults.
3. Because of changes in the wording of the survey questions, there is a break in the time series from the period 30 March to 10 April 2022. Data before this period cannot be directly compared with data from this period onwards.
4. Reasons for respondents neither working from home nor travelling to work might currently include being on annual leave or sick leave, being on maternity or paternity leave, or being unable to work.

Download the data

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Further estimates regarding the location of work, including breakdowns by age and sex, and trends over time, can be found in Tables 3, 10 and 11of our Coronavirus (COVID-19) and other illnesses dataset.

Rail disruptions

This week, we asked all adults if, in the past two weeks, rail strikes have disrupted their travel plans. Around one in eight (13%) adults said that their travel plans had been disrupted.

Of those who said they had experienced travel disruptions, the most common impacts were:

• being unable to take part in leisure activities (39% in this period, while it was 34% in the period 22 June to 3 July)

• spending more money on travel (19% in this period, while it was 24% in the period 22 June to 3 July)

• being unable to work the hours they planned to (15% in this period, while it was 13% in the period 22 June to 3 July)

Around 3 in 10 (29%) said the rail strikes had affected them in other ways than the ones listed in the survey (32% in the period 22 June to 3 July).

Further estimates regarding the travel to work methods and rail disruptions, including breakdowns by age and sex, can be found in our Rail disruptions dataset.

This period, we asked all adults how worried or unworried they are about climate change. Three-quarters (75%) of adults said they were very or somewhat worried about the impact of climate change.

We also asked all adults whether they had been affected by the recent summer heatwave. This covers the latest heatwave earlier this month and the heatwave in July 2022.

Around 8 in 10 (85%) adults said they were aware of government advice about the recent summer heatwave. When asked about ways in which, if any, they were affected by the recent heatwave:

• over half (55%) said they were not affected

• around one in five (21%) said their leisure activities were affected

• around one in seven (14%) said their general health was affected

We also asked all adults which actions they took during the recent heatwave. The most common reported actions taken were (Figure 2):

• drank plenty of fluids (89%)

• closed curtains or blinds to keep indoor space cooler (79%)

• stayed out of the sun between 11am to 3pm, where possible (65%)

• closed windows during the hottest times of day (53%)

• avoided exercise during the hottest parts of the day (51%)

Personal well-being

This period, we continued to ask respondents about their personal well-being. Average levels of personal well-being were:

• life satisfaction (6.9 in both the latest period and previous period)
• feeling that the things done in life are worthwhile (7.3 in the latest period and 7.1 in the previous period)
• happiness (7.1 in the latest period and 6.9 in the previous period)
• anxiety (3.9 in both the latest period and previous period)

These estimates of personal well-being may differ from those in our Personal well-being in the UK, quarterly: April 2011 to September 2021 bulletin, which is based on the Annual Population Survey (APS). To find out more about the difference between these two data sources, you can view our Data collection changes due to the pandemic and their impact on estimating personal well-being methodology.

Figure 3: Levels of personal well-being remained relatively stable in the latest period

Adults in Great Britain, March 2020 to August 2022

Notes:

1. Questions included: "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. These questions are answered on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is "not at all" and 10 is "completely".
3. Base: all adults.

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Loneliness

A quarter (25%) of adults reported feeling lonely always, often, or some of the time in the latest period (25% in the previous period).

For further estimates on people's personal well-being and loneliness, including breakdowns by age, sex and trends over time, please see our Personal well-being and loneliness dataset.

Our Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights tool provides a roundup of the latest data and trends about the coronavirus pandemic from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) and other sources.

Further estimates regarding the social impacts of COVID-19, with trends over time and breakdowns by age and sex, can be found in our Coronavirus (COVID-19) and other illnesses dataset.

This release contains data and indicators from a module being undertaken through the Office for National Statistics' (ONS') Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN).

From the period 30 March to 10 April 2022, changes were made to the OPN to enable us to provide ongoing indicators on a wide range of public opinions and societal issues.

Changes were made to the OPN survey design, for example, sample size, the questionnaire, and financial incentives to participate. These changes may result in small changes to the responding sample. We therefore advise caution with comparing estimates from this period onwards with those published prior to this period.

Breakdowns by age and sex, including confidence intervals for the estimates, are contained in our Public opinion and social trends, Great Britain datasets. Breakdowns by region are no longer provided within these datasets because of the smaller responding sample size of the OPN.

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

Sampling and weighting

In the latest period (3 to 14 August 2022), we sampled 4,985 households. This sample was randomly selected from those who had previously completed the Labour Market Survey (LMS) or OPN. The responding sample for the latest period contained 2,193 individuals, representing a 44% response rate.

Survey weights were applied to make estimates representative of the population (based on June 2021 population estimates). Further information on the survey design and quality can be found in our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey quality and methodology information (QMI).