Background

Released: 29 July 2021

Geographic Coverage: England

This release provides estimates on a number of measures covering social cohesion, community engagement and social action over the period of April 2020 to March 2021. The survey ran over the course of a year, recording respondents’ answers consistently over the year during different periods of lockdown measures. It is therefore likely that COVID-19 pandemic impacted respondent’s behaviours and responses, although we can not state that any change is caused purely because of this.

The Community Life Survey is a nationally representative annual survey of adults (16+) in England that aims to track the latest trends and developments across areas that are key to encouraging social action and empowering communities.

The survey moved from a face-to-face mode to an online (with paper mode for those who are not digitally engaged) in 2016/17. The results included in the release are based on online/paper completes only, covering the eight years from 2013/14, when this method was first tested, to 2020/21.

Differences between groups are only reported on in this publication where they are statistically significant i.e. where we can be confident that the differences seen in our sampled respondents reflect the population.

Responsible statistician: Aleister Skinner

Statistical enquiries: evidence@dcms.gov.uk, @DCMSInsight

Headline Estimates

Estimates from the 2020/21 Community Life Survey show that among adults (16+) in England:

• Most adults (95%) agreed that if they needed help there are people who would be there for them.

• 66% of respondents met up in person with friends or family at least once a week, a significant decrease from 2019/20 (74%).

• The proportion of adults reporting they felt lonely often/always remained similar to 2019/20 at 6%.

• Measures for life satisfaction, happiness and self-worth have decreased from 2019/20.

• 79% of respondents agree that they were satisfied with their local area as a place to live, an increase from 2019/20 (76%).

• 65% of respondents agreed that people in their neighbourhood pull together to improve their neighbourhood; this was higher than in 2019/20 (59%).

• 41% of respondents have taken part in civic participation, 19% in civic consultation, and 7% in civic activism.

• 27% of respondents agreed that they could personally influence decisions in their local areas.

• There was a decrease in the proportion of people giving to charitable causes. 63% of respondents reported having given to charitable causes in the last 4 weeks (at the time of responding to the survey). This was lower than in 2019/20 where 75% of respondents reported doing so and the lowest since the Community Life Survey began in 2013/14.

• There was a decrease in the proportion of people formally volunteering. 17% of respondents reported formally volunteering at least once a month, the lowest recorded participation rate since data collection in the Community Life Survey.

• There was an increase in the proportion of people informally volunteering. 33% of respondents had volunteered informally at least once a month, the highest percentage on record in the Community Life Survey.

Chapters

1. Identity and Social Network

2. Wellbeing and Loneliness

3. Neighbourhood and Community

4. Civic Engagement and Social Action

5. Volunteering and Charitable Giving

6. Annexes

Notes

• There are likely to be interactions between different demographics reported in this publication. For example, ethnic groups have different age and regional profiles. This report considers each demographic characteristic individually, so differences cited here cannot necessarily be attributed directly to the characteristic being described.
• The

The Taking Part Survey has run since 2005 and is the key evidence source for DCMS. It is a continuous face to face household survey of adults aged 16 and over in England and children aged 5 to 15 years old.

The child Taking Part report can be found here.

The Taking Part Survey provides reliable national estimates of engagement with the arts, heritage, museums, libraries, digital and social networking. It carries the National Statistics badge, meaning that it meets the highest standards of statistical quality.

• Released - 16 September 2020
• Period covered - April 2019 to March 2020
• Geographic coverage - National and Regional level data for England.
• Next release date – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face data collection was paused for the survey year from April 2020. Data will therefore not be published in the normal annual report in September 2021.

Summary

The Taking Part Survey provides reliable national estimates of adult engagement with the arts, heritage, museums, libraries, digital and social networking and of barriers to engagement. The latest data cover the period April 2019 to March 2020.

• 1. Arts
• 2. Heritage
• 3. Museums and Galleries
• 4. Libraries
• 5. Internet Usage
• 6. Social Networking
• 7. Gambling and Lotteries
• 8. COVID-19
• 9. Annexes

Data tables for the Archive, Charitable Giving and Volunteering estimates can be found here:

• Archives
• Charitable Giving
• Volunteering

Fieldwork for the Taking Part survey was terminated before its intended end date due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. We do not expect that either the pandemic or reduced fieldwork has affected the accuracy of our estimates. A summary of the analysis of the possible effects of early termination of fieldwork can be found the Taking Part Year 15 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/916246/Taking_Part_Technical_Report_2019_20.pdf">technical report

The previous Taking Part release was published on 19 September 2019, covering the period April 2018 to March 2019.

The pre-release access document above contains a list of ministers and officials who have received privileged early access to this release of Taking Part data. In line with best practice, the list has been kept to a minimum and those given access for briefing purposes had a maximum of 24 hours. Details on the pre-release access arrangements for this dataset are available in the accompanying material.

This release is published in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics (2018), as produced by the UK Statistics Authority. The Authority has the overall objective of promoting and safeguarding the production and publication of official statistics that serve the public good. It monitors and reports on all official statistics, and promotes good practice in this area.

The responsible statistician for this release is Alistair Rice. For enquiries on this release, contact takingpart@dcms.gov.uk.

Headline measures

Taking Part is a household survey in England that measures engagement with the cultural sectors. The survey data is widely used by policy officials, practitioners, academics and charities. This report presents the latest headline estimates of adult (16+) engagement for the year April 2019 to March 2020.

In 2019/20, the following proportions of adults had engaged with cultural ac

Background

The Community Life Survey collects information about the way adults (16+) communicate with family members and friends, their support networks and the diversity of their friendship groups.

Headline measures - 2020/21

• 66% of respondents (approximately 30 million people in England) met up in person with friends/family at least once a week, a statistically significant decrease from 2019/20 where the figure was 74% (33 million people).

• 95% of respondents either definitely or tended to agree that if they needed help, there are people who would be there for them; a similar figure to 2019/20 (95%).

• There was a statistically significant increase in the proportion of people who spoke on the phone or video/audio call via the internet with family members or friends at least once a week from 81% in 2019/2020 to 85% in 2020/21.

• 86% of respondents exchanged texts or instant messages with family or friends once a week or more. This is a statistically significant increase from 2019/20 (84%) and has been steadily rising since 2013/14 (76%).

Further data

• The https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/datasets/socialcapitalheadlineindicators">social capital headline indicators produced by the Office for National Statistics present data covering subjects including personal relationships and social network supports.

• https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/">Understanding Society is a large longitudinal household panel study which collects data on subjects including social and family networks.

Published 29 July 2021

Background

The Community Life Survey is a household self-completion survey of adults aged 16+ in England. The survey is a key evidence source on social cohesion, community engagement and social action.

This report summarises the results from the 2019/20 survey, which ran from April 2019 to March 2020. In 2016/17, the survey discontinued face-to-face collection and moved fully to a ‘push to web’ approach.

The majority of the fieldwork took place prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further information on the impact the pandemic may have had on our estimates is available in Annex B.

This nationally representative survey provides statistics on behaviours and attitudes to inform policy and action in these areas. The survey provides data of value to a range of users, including government departments, public bodies, those working in the voluntary and charity sectors and the public.

Responsible statistician: Alistair Rice

Statistical enquiries: evidence@dcms.gov.uk, @DCMSInsight

Media enquiries: 020 7211 2210

Date: 14th July 2020

Headline Estimates

Estimates from the 2019-20 Community Life Survey show that among adults (16+) in England:

• 23% took part in formal volunteering at least once a month.

• 37% took part in formal volunteering at least once in the last year.

• 75% have to charitable causes in the last 4 weeks.

• Of which, £24 was the average donation given.

• 27% felt able to influence decision affecting their local area.

• 53% wanted to be more involved in local decision making.

• 76% were satisfied with their local area as a place to live.

• 82% agreed their area was a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together.

• 63% felt they belonged to their immediate neighbourhood.

• 84% felt they belonged to Britain.

• 74% met up in person with family or friends once a week or more.
• 6% said they felt lonely often or always.

Chapters

1. Identity and Social Networks

2. Wellbeing and Loneliness

3. Neighbourhood and Community

4. Civic Engagement and Social Action

5. Volunteering and Charitable Giving

6. Annexes

Notes

• There are likely to be interactions between different demographics reported in this publication. For example, ethnic groups have different age and regional profiles. This report considers each demographic characteristic individually, so differences cited here cannot necessarily be attributed directly to the characteristic being described.
• The 2014/15 and 2015/16 survey had a smaller overall sample size than other years reported in this report so figures for these years may be less reliable.
• Small sample sizes for some demographic characteristics (such as some ethnic minority groups) presented in this report mean we are less able to detect significant differences between groups.
• All results summarised in this report are from the ‘push to web’ methodology. Respondents can choose to complete the survey online or use a paper questionnaire. Not all questions are included in the paper version of the questionnaire.
• 95% confidence intervals have been used throughout the report. For further explanation and for definitions of terms please refer to Annex A
• Differences between groups are only reported on in this publication where they are statistically significant i.e. where we can be confident that the differences seen in our sampled respondents reflect the population. Further information on this approach is provided in "https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-life-survey-201920-annexes/annex-a-terms-and-definitions">

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. This statistical release 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 and wellbeing. The estimates presented here are therefore comparable with other surveys that use this principle. However we advise taking caution when comparing measures from different surveys because differences in the methodology (e.g. mode/sampling approach) will all affect estimates. Other statistical data sets that use this definition, and therefore have comparative data, are available from the https://gss.civilservice.gov.uk/policy-store/loneliness-indicators/">GSS guidance page. In Annex C there are details of further surveys that have adopted the Government Statistical Service harmonised principles of loneliness and Wellbeing.

Headline Measures – 2020/21

• Average scores for life satisfaction, the extent to how worthwhile the respondent felt things in their life were and happiness have decreased since 2019/20.

• Life satisfaction score was 6.9 (out of 10) in 2020/21, a decrease from 7.0 in 2019/20.

• How happy people felt yesterday decreased from 7.0 (out of 10) in 2019/20 to 6.8 in 2020/21. This has trended downwards from 7.2 in 2015/16.

• Whether people felt the things they did were worthwhile decreased to 7.1 (out of 10) in 2020/21 from 7.3 in 2020/21.

• How anxious people felt yesterday at the time of survey completion averaged at 3.8 (out of 10), which was in line with the figure in 2019/20. This figure has trended upwards from 2015/16 where it was 3.3.

• 6% of respondents (approximately 3 million people in England) said they felt lonely often/always. This is in line with reported loneliness from 2019/20.

• Loneliness was higher for 16-24 year olds, the most deprived and those with a long term limiting illness or disability.

• An indirect loneliness composite score was produced which found significantly higher loneliness scores for those with a long term limiting illness or disability compared to those without.

Further Data

• https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/articles/measuresofnationalwellbeingdashboard/2018-04-25">Measures of National Wellbeing Dashboard, which monitors and reports on multiple wellbeing measures.

• Chapter 1 of the Community Life Survey provides estimates on support networks and methods of communicating with friends and family.

• In December 2020, DCMS published the second ’Community Life Survey: Focus on Loneliness’. This used data from the 2019/20 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 June 2020, the Office for National Statistics released a paper titled “https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/bulletins/coronavirusandlonelinessgreatbritain/3aprilto3may2020">Coronavirus and Loneliness, Great Britain”, which gives an overview of how different groups of people experienced loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic. A number of other studies of the effect of the Coronavirus pandemic on loneliness have been published. These include the https://www.covidsocialstudy.org/">COVID Social Study (conducted by University College London), and the ONS publication https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/articles/mappinglonelinessduringthecoronaviruspandemic/2021-04-07">Mapping Loneliness during the coronavirus pandemic.

Background

The Community Life Survey collects information about whether adults (16+) have volunteered and given to charitable causes.

This section provides headline data measuring engagement in formal and informal volunteering, reasons for and barriers to volunteering, as well as charitable giving behaviours and views. The data looks at engagement over time, and differences in engagement between demographic groups.

Headline measures – 2020/21

• 62% of respondents (approximately 28 million people in England) have volunteered in any way in the last 12 months, and 41% (approximately 19 million people in England) at least once a month.

• 63% (approximately 29 million people in England) of respondents said they had given to charitable causes in the last 4 weeks. This is a decrease from 2019/20 where it was measured at 75% and the lowest proportion recorded in the CLS.

• Formal volunteering at least once a month in the past 12 months decreased in 2020/21 (17%) from 2019/20 (23%), the lowest that it has been recorded in the CLS.

• Informal volunteering at least once a month in the past 12 months increased in 2020/21 (33%) from 2019/20 (28%), the highest that it has been recorded in the CLS.

Further data

• Information about volunteering in DCMS sectors, as well as charitable giving has historically been collected in the DCMS ‘Taking Part Survey’. Volunteering and charitable giving results will vary between Taking Part and Community Life Survey. This is likely due to differences in the methods of collection and question phrasing.

• In May 2019, DCMS published ‘Community Life Survey and Taking Part Survey 2017-18: Focus on volunteering by age and gender’. This report combines data from the Taking Part and Community Life surveys to explore experiences of volunteering by gender and age.

• In December 2020, DCMS published ‘Community Life COVID-19 Re-contact Survey 2020- Main Report’. This report covered public beliefs and behaviours relating to social cohesion, charitable giving, volunteering, wellbeing and loneliness for adults in England during March to July 2020, and how these have changed compared with a period before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Headline Findings

In the 2021 calendar year, there were approximately 4,270,000 filled jobs in DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism), 12.9% of the UK total, and a 3.1% increase compared to the preceding 12 months.

Growth in total DCMS sector filled jobs was primarily driven by the Creative Industries and Digital sectors, which increased by 113,000 (5.1%) and 108,000 (6.3%) filled jobs respectively. This was partially offset by decreases in the Civil Society and Sport sectors (4,000, 0.5% and 5,000, 0.9% respectively).

Although there is wide variation between sectors in terms of demographic breakdowns, overall the proportion of filled jobs held by women was lower in the DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism) (44.5%) than the UK overall (48.1%). DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism) have a similar share of jobs filled by people from ethnic minority groups (excluding white minorities) or by people with disabilities compared to the UK workforce overall.

According to earnings estimates in the 2021 calendar year, within the DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism) median hourly gross pay was greater than the UK overall, at £15.68 compared to £13.51. Of the individual sectors, only Gambling and Sport had lower pay than the UK average, while the Creative Industries and Digital sector had the highest median pay.

Within the DCMS Sectors (excluding Tourism), the difference in pay between men and women is estimated to exceed the UK overall (DCMS 23.9%, UK 15.1%), while the disability pay gap was similar (14.7%, 14.6%) and there was great variation in pay by ethnic group.

About this release

The employment (number of filled jobs) estimates series is a National Statistic under the Code of Practice for Statistics. It is calculated based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS).

The earnings estimates series is an Experimental Statistic. It is also calculated based on the ONS Annual Population Survey (APS) and was first published in the DCMS Sector National Economics: 2011 to 2020 to provide estimates of earnings with different demographic breakdowns. For headline estimates of earnings, DCMS also publishes estimates using the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which are seen as more robust for that purpose.

Additionally, DCMS has published estimates of the Civil Society sector, broken down by Local Authority. This uses pooled data spanning the period 2018 to 2021 to boost sample sizes. It was developed as an “ad hoc” release based on user request and can be found in our ad hoc statistical release page.

Creative Occupations

In 2020, the ONS conducted a review of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes to update and revise the classification of occupations to reflect changes within the economy since the previous ‘refresh’, around 2010. As the Creative Industries is defined using the occupation codes which have been determined as creative, DCMS has updated the list of creative occupations based on the