Data about social networking helps us to increase our understanding of how people benefit from the opportunities the internet can offer, as well as who is missing out. In our increasingly online world, a significant part of the population remains digitally excluded. In the 2017 Digital Strategy, the Government has committed to address this digital divide between those who have been able to embrace the digital world and those who have not.

Headline findings

• 87% of adults had used social networking websites or applications in the past 12 months, an increase from 84% in 2018/19
• Increases in use of social networking was seen for age groups over 45 years old
• There were differences in the likelihood of having used social networking with the demographic categories of age, ethnicity, region, disability, socio-economic background and tenure

Further data

The https://oxis.oii.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) collect information about internet access in Britain, describing how Internet use has evolved from 2003 to the present day.

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 - 2019/20

• 74% of respondents meet up in person with friends/family at least once a week.
• 95% of respondents either definitely or tended to agree that if they needed help, there are people who would be there for them.
• The majority of respondents had diverse friendship groups in terms of ethnicity, religion, age and education.

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.

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

Data about digital engagement helps us to increase our understanding of how people benefit from the opportunities the internet can offer, as well as who is missing out. In our increasingly online world, a significant part of the population remains digitally excluded. In the 2017 Digital Strategy, the Government has committed to address this digital divide between those who have been able to embrace the digital world and those who have not.

Headline findings

• 93% of adults had access to the internet in their household
• 36% of adults rated their ability to use the internet as 10 (high ability), the highest possible answer, with 78% of respondents selecting a value of 7 or higher
• Reported ability to use the internet varied with the demographic categories of age, gender, disability, socio-economic background, tenure and work status

Further data

• The https://oxis.oii.ox.ac.uk/">Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) collect information about internet access in Britain, describing how Internet use has evolved from 2003 to the present day.

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">

Headline findings

All estimates in this release are presented in 2022 prices and in chained volume measures. Estimates are provisional and subject to planned revisions. The index of estimated monthly GVA shows the growth or decline of the Digital Sector and its subsectors relative to January 2019.

This current release contains new monthly figures for April 2024 to June 2024 and minor revisions for January 2024 to March 2024.

Estimates of monthly GVA (£ million) are used to determine percentage changes over the relevant time periods mentioned here.

• Estimated monthly GVA for the Digital Sector increased by 1.1% between March 2024 and June 2024, while the GVA of the UK is estimated to have increased by 0.4% over the same period.
• Based on these estimates, the Digital Sector accounted for 7.2% of total UK GVA in June 2024, down from 7.4% in June 2023.
• In our Economic Estimates: Digital Sector Monthly GVA (to March 2024) release we reported a 0.2% increase in Digital Sector GVA from December 2023 to March 2024. As part of planned revisions to the underlying data in this release, this change in Digital Sector GVA has been revised down to a 0.2% decrease from December 2023 to March 2024.
• These same revised figures estimate that monthly Digital Sector GVA decreased by 1.8% in the 12 months between March 2023 and March 2024 whilst, over the same period, the estimate for the total UK GVA increased by 0.9%.

Released

26 September 2024

About this release

This is a continuation of the Digital Economic Estimates: Monthly GVA series, previously produced by Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Responsibility for Digital Sector policy now sits with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Monthly estimates

These estimates are Official Statistics, used to provide an estimate of the economic contribution of the Digital Sector, in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA), for the period January 2019 to June 2024. This current release contains new monthly figures for April 2024 to June 2024 and minor revisions for January 2024 to March 2024.

Estimates are presented in chained volume measures (i.e. have been adjusted for inflation), at 2022 prices, and are seasonally adjusted. These latest monthly estimates should only be used to illustrate general trends, not used as definitive figures.

You can use these estimates to:

• Look at relative indicative changes in GVA over time for the Digital Sector and subsectors

You should not use these estimates to:

• Quantify GVA for a specific month
• Measure absolute change in GVA over time
• Determine findings for sectors that are defined using more detailed industrial classes (due to the data sources only being available at broader industry levels)

Data sources and technical information

These findings are calculated based on published Office for National Statistics (ONS) data sources including the Index of Services and Index of Production.

These data sources are available for industrial ‘divisions’, whereas the Digital Sector is defined using more detailed industrial ‘classes’. This represents a significant limitation to this statistical series; the implications of which are discussed further in the technical report .

About

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 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

19 September 2019

Period covered

April 2018 to March 2019

Geographic coverage

National and Regional level data for England.

Next release date

2019/20 results due to be published September 2020.

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 2018 to March 2019.

Statistical worksheets

These spreadsheets contain the data and sample sizes to support the material in this release. Additional spreadsheets have been included for volunteering, charitable giving and archives.

Previous releases

The previous adult biannual Taking Part release was published on 11 June 2019 and the previous adult Taking Part annual release was published on 30th August 2018. Both releases also provide spreadsheets containing the data and sample sizes for each sector included in the survey.

Pre-release access

The 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.

The UK Statistics Authority

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 Ed Pyle. For enquiries on this release, contact Ed Pyle on 07557 608174 or Maria Willoughby on 020 7211 6771.

For any further queries contact them or the Taking Part team at takingpart@culture.gov.uk.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport commissions the Community Life Survey. The survey provides official statistics on issues that are important to encouraging social action and empowering communities. This release focuses on findings about loneliness collected through the survey. It provides additional demographic breakdowns and looks at estimated levels of loneliness against other key survey measures.

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

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

Headline Findings

In 2019, DCMS Sectors contained 5.3 million filled jobs, accounting for 15.7% of all UK jobs. Additionally:

• The largest individual sector was Creative Industries, followed by Digital.
• The sector with the lowest number of jobs was Gambling.

About

These Economic Estimates are Official Statistics used to provide an estimate of employment (number of jobs) in the DCMS Sectors.

Content

These statistics cover the contributions of the following DCMS sectors to the UK economy;

• Civil Society
• Creative Industries
• Cultural Sector
• Digital Sector
• Gambling
• Sport
• Telecoms
• Tourism

A definition for each sector is available in the associated methodology note along with details of methods and data limitations.

Released

30 April 2020

Feedback and consultation

DCMS aims to continuously improve the quality of estimates and better meet user needs. DCMS welcomes feedback on this release. Feedback should be sent to DCMS via email at evidence@culture.gov.uk.

The UK Statistics Authority

This release is published in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, 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 statisticians for this release is Rachel Moyce. For further details about the estimates, or to be added to a distribution list for future updates, please email us at evidence@culture.gov.uk.

Pre-release access

The document above contains a list of ministers and officials who have received privileged early access to this release. 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.