‘Big life changes’ are being planned by more than a quarter of adults after we have recovered from the coronavirus outbreak.
Of these 42% want to make a change to their work, 38% are looking to move on from their relationship and over a third are inclined to move home.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics weekly data on the social impacts of Covid-19 focused for the first time on aspects of life that are the cause of unhappiness.
As someone who is semi-retired and who’s had plenty of time to reflect on what I want from life these numbers interest me.
Rather than just ploughing on regardless with work large swathes of the population have had time for introspection, something that retirement forces you to do.
I have no desire to make changes to where I live or who I live with – am sure Mrs Jones will be relieved! – but I’ve already made a change to my work by gradually letting it peter out.
What the lockdown has taught me is that I’ll continue to need some sort of work in life, something I do regularly that gives me a purpose and maybe an income.
What this is I’m not sure about but I’m confident I’ll need it as long as it doesn’t mess up what else I want to do.
The statistics also make me wonder whether people will actually implement the changes they are wanting to make in their life once normal life resumes. Time will tell I guess.
There was lots of positive news in the survey as overall four in ten adults in Britain said they felt some parts of their lives had changed for the better since the coronavirus lockdown.
This though was mostly true of younger people, with nearly half of the 1,200 16 to 69 year-olds saying they’d experienced positive lifestyle changes while only a quarter of the 720 respondents were aged 70 or over.
Of those who reported positive lifestyle changes, 56% said they were able to spend more quality time with loved ones with whom they share a home. I agree with this.
More than half of those in the older age group whose lives had changed for the better said they were more in touch with neighbours, this is also something that is definitely true of me.
The other finding I identified with was that 47% of respondents said their well-being had been negatively affected by the pandemic.
The ONS analysed responses from 1,920 adults questioned between June 18 and 21 as part of its Opinions and Lifestyle Survey on the impact of Covid-19.