Older people in England are more satisfied after covid-19 pandemic

The covid-19 pandemic gave older people in England a stronger sense of purpose and greater life satisfaction, possibly because it deepened their appreciation for the simple things in life.

We already knew that some people’s well-being and life satisfaction dipped during the early years of the pandemic, but what happened later on, after most restrictions had been lifted, is less well understood. “Unfortunately, most of the studies that were carried out did not continue [in the later years of] the pandemic, so there was a big gap in the research,” says Paola Zaninotto at University College London.

To address this, Zaninotto and her colleagues analysed data from surveys on the well-being and depressive symptoms of nearly 4000, mainly white, people in England, all of whom were aged 50 or older at the time of the study.

Each participant completed a survey in the two years running up to the pandemic, a second one in the first year of the pandemic in 2020 and a final one between the end of 2021 and early 2023. More than 85 per cent of participants filled in this last survey in 2022, after most infection-control measures in England had ended.

The team found that, before the pandemic, the participants rated their sense of purpose in life with an average score of 7.5 out of 10. This dropped to 7.2 in 2020, before rising to 7.6 – above pre-pandemic levels – in the final survey.

Similarly, the participants reported an average life satisfaction score of 7.3 before the pandemic, and although this dipped to 6.9 early in the pandemic, it rose to 7.5 in the final survey.

While these are small shifts in well-being at a population level, some individuals will have experienced larger changes that affect their work and relationships, says Rebecca Pearson at the University of Bristol, UK.

It may be that the global outbreak reminded people of what is important in life, says Zaninotto. “The pandemic brought some challenges, but also a more broad appreciation for our lives – maybe for social connections and other meaningful activities,” she says.

The team also found that average rates of depression – defined as having at least four depressive symptoms, such as feeling lonely – more than doubled from the first period to the second one. Rates fell in the final survey, but remained above pre-pandemic levels.

“People may feel ‘we got through it, I’ve gone back to work, I’ve been able to see my family again’ and all that stuff, which is purposeful and satisfying, but, at the same time, you might find yourself low at times, you might not be able to feel pleasure in the same way,” says Pearson. Further studies should explore what exactly is driving these increased rates of depression, she says.

Additional research should also explore how the results translate to people elsewhere, says Kelsey O’Connor at the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in Luxembourg. “The pandemic policies and severity of the pandemic was so dramatically different in other countries,” he says. “You can’t really generalise to younger people, ethnic minority or marginalised groups either.”