UK wellbeing over time: Analysing Living Costs and Food Survey data 2014-2020

The overall state of people’s wellbeing can have serious impacts on productivity, health and other social and economic factors – with evidence that better mental wellbeing considerably reduces national productivity losses.

This means it is crucial for us to understand and track how people are doing. Gauging how UK residents have been affected by these socioeconomic forces and help policymakers infer what kind of policy interventions are necessary to support them.

To do this, we can look at national data, such as the The Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF), a continuous survey organised by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is primarily used to analyse the expenditure patterns of UK households. In addition to this, the survey contains information about the personal wellbeing of members of the household.

Using data from the LCF, this report aims to analyse and discuss the wellbeing of individuals in the UK over time, and break this down by income, geography and demographic variables.

O’Sullivan, B. 2024. UK wellbeing over time: Analysing Living Costs and Food Survey data 2014-2020. What Works Wellbeing.