Here are some extracts from a recent Office for National statistics report. Not very positive but perhaps a timely reminder to take back control of our lives: watch the diet, do a bit more exercise, make more contacts with friends, family and neighbours.
Slightly longer lives but with more ill-health.
“For example, 36% of working-age people reported at least one long-term health condition in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2023, up from 31% in the same period in 2019.”
“While people in the UK are living longer than at the height of the pandemic, the proportion of their lives spent in good health continues to decline. Despite modest increases since 2019 to 2021, healthy life expectancy at birth in 2022 to 2024 decreased to its lowest level since the time series began in 2011 to 2013. This was the case for both males and females, with males in the UK expecting to spend 60.7 years (77% of life) in “good” general health, compared with 60.9 years (73%) for females.”
Less happiness.
“After a long period of stability through the mid 2010s, low levels of life satisfaction rose sharply during 2020 to 2021 before falling again in the following years. Since then, trends have remained steady, with estimates of low life satisfaction largely unchanged at 5.1% in Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025, with no clear signs of improvement in the post-pandemic period.”
“Our quarterly personal well-being estimates also include estimates for:
- the extent to which people feel the things they do in life are worthwhile
- levels of happiness
- levels of anxiety
Each of these captures a different aspect of personal well-being.”
More Loneliness.
“In Great Britain, trust in others has remained broadly stable over time, with around three in five adults (65.0%) reporting that, in general, they trust most people, when asked in December 2025 to January 2026. However, other measures show lower levels of social cohesion. Data from … Jan 2026 bulletin indicate that around one in four adults (23%) report feeling lonely at least some of the time, with higher levels of loneliness among younger adults. “
Less sense of fairness.
“Nearly half of adults (48%) disagree that everyone has a fair chance to progress based on talent and hard work, and 62% believe that a person’s background has the greatest influence on their life outcomes. Taken together, these findings suggest that while interpersonal trust remains relatively high, perceptions of fairness and social connection are more mixed.”
Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 27 February 2026, ONS website, statistical bulletin, Beyond GDP insights, UK headline measures of National Well-being: February 2026