Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain: 14 May 2020
Commenting on today’s findings, Hugh Stickland from the Office for National Statistics said: “It is interesting to see the growth in community spirit over the weeks ONS has carried out this survey. Now for the first time, we’ve asked people about their attitudes and expectations of a post-pandemic nation. In many cases, this is optimistic, especially among older people. We expect Britain to become kinder and more united, although not necessarily more equal. There is a recognition that it will take longer for the nation to return to ‘normal’ than originally assumed, and that the economic future will be challenging.”
Findings from the Office for National Statistics' weekly Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN), covering the period 24 April to 3 May 2020, includes new information about how people in Great Britain think that life will change after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Findings include:
-
More united. 57% of adults believe that Great Britain will be more united once we have recovered from the coronavirus pandemic.
-
Kinder. More people (67%) think that Britain will be a kind nation after the pandemic.
-
Equality. Only 16% of adults surveyed felt that Britain was ‘somewhat or very equal’ before the pandemic.
-
Return to normal. There is a growing expectation that it will take longer to return to ‘normal’, with 46% of adults now thinking it will be longer than six months.
-
Economic future. When considering their economic future, 41% of adults expected their financial position to get ‘a little or a lot worse’ over the next 12 months.
Coronavirus and the latest indicators for the UK economy and society: 14 May 2020
The ONS has today published its latest set of faster indicators, covering the UK’s society and economy.
The economy indicators, which include Initial results from Wave 4 of the Business Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Survey (BICS) of UK businesses for the period 20 April to 3 May 2020 show:
- 44% of businesses who responded they had not permanently ceased trading between 20 April and 3 May, reported that their cash reserves would last less than 6 months
- 91% of businesses who had paused trading had applied for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, compared to 72% of businesses who were still trading
Also, for the first time, this bulletin includes Weekly management information on Universal Credit declarations (claims) and advances for reference period 1 March to 5 May 2020. This information is published every Tuesday by the Department for Work and Pensions. These findings show Individual declarations for Universal Credit rose steeply in March to peak at 146,290 declarations on 27 March, followed by a gradual decline in the subsequent weeks to 27,810 on 5 May.
|
