Old people in England are happier with their life now than before COVID. What's changed?
Researchers from University College London (UCL) tracked about 4,000 people ages 50 and up in the country from 2012 to 2023. They used survey data to measure people's happiness, life satisfaction, and eudaemonic well-being – a sense of purpose and meaning in life – as well as depressive symptoms.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, older people's mental well-being declined and depression levels rose in late 2020 with pandemic restrictions in full force, according to the findings, which were published in the journal Aging & Mental Health.
But the scales soon tipped the other way. Older Britons' mental well-being bounced back from late 2021 to 2023, with their life satisfaction and sense of purpose even eclipsing their pre-pandemic levels, the study found.
The findings could 'reflect a renewed appreciation for social connections and meaningful activities, as well as increased psychological resilience after a period of adversity,' Paola Zaninotto, the study's lead author and a professor of medical and social statistics at UCL, said in a statement.
How is 'happiness' defined?
Well-being may be subjective, but it's about more than a lack of mental health problems like depression. Researchers think of well-being as a combination of positive feelings like happiness, good relationships, and a sense of purpose and control in life that allow people to thrive.
That may help explain why depression levels did not improve in tandem with mental well-being after the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, 11.4 per cent of older adults experienced significant depressive symptoms, a level that surged to 27.2 per cent in late 2020 and then fell to 14.9 per cent from 2021 to 2023.
The researchers theorised that this could be due to the after-effects of interrupted medical care and other services for older people during the pandemic.
Notably, not everyone reaped the benefits of the post-pandemic mental health boom.
Adults in their 50s and less affluent people reported being worse off than their older and wealthier peers – possibly because their well-being levels were already lower before the pandemic.
After the pandemic, people over 75 also saw smaller improvements in well-being and depression levels, possibly due to 'persistent vulnerabilities' such as health problems, slower mental adaptation to the crisis, and a hit to their social lives, researchers said.
Older adults are happier than the young
The disparities underscore the 'importance of tailored support policies for the immediate and lingering effects of pandemics on the well-being of our older population,' Zaninotto said.
The study has some limitations. Nearly all of the participants were white and about half were retired, which means the findings may not reflect the experiences of other groups.
Even so, the findings are in line with previous research that shows life satisfaction has risen slightly in the UK since the early 1980s.
In 2024, the United Kingdom ranked 20th of 143 countries in the annual World Happiness Report from University of Oxford, which tracks people's life satisfaction.
Older adults may be providing a boost. The UK's older adults are now 'significantly happier than the young,' the 2024 report found, a trend that is mirrored in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Spain, and France.
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