The March 2022 VOX POP survey asked about:
- Happiness and Wellbeing
- Personal and Household Finances
- Living with COVID
- One Man’s Meat
1073 local people completed this survey, meaning results for Hull are reported with a confidence interval of 2.98% at a 99% confidence level (e.g. we are 99% certain that the actual result falls within +/-2.98 percentage points of the reported figure).
An infographic summary of the results can be found here : March 2022 Infographic
A more detailed analysis report can be found here: March 2022 Report
Key Findings
Happiness and Wellbeing
- Respondents generally feel positive about different aspects of their health and wellbeing; with the notable exception of feelings of stress / anxiety.
- Compared to the beginning of the pandemic; levels of unhappiness remain high. However, levels of loneliness and stress / anxiety have dropped significantly.
- Feelings of unhappiness and low levels of wellbeing focus on young people (aged 16 – 34) and residents with a disability or impairment.
Personal and Household Finances
- Over a quarter of respondents said they live to a very strict budget and around a fifth are in debt, worry about the amount of money they owe, and are struggling to pay their bills.
- Whilst most respondents are currently keeping up with bills / credit commitments; the majority feel both that their household’s financial situation has got worse over the last year and that their household’s financial situation is likely to get worse over the next year compared to now.
- Respondents are most concerned about their ability cope with a financial emergency e.g. having to replace their car or boiler etc and their ability to pay their utility bills; with under half of respondents saying they have savings they can rely on.
- Financial problems and worries are more prevalent among those on low incomes / in receipt of benefits, young people (aged 16 – 34) and residents with a disability or impairment.
Living With COVID
- Over two thirds of respondents agree or strongly agree that the country needs to start returning back to normal and over half of respondents believe that we are between the middle and the end of the COVID pandemic.
- Half of respondents are not particularly concerned about the lifting of restrictions.
- The lifting of COVID restrictions will result in a significant reduction in the proportion of respondents who will avoid meeting people indoors, will continue to maintain a 2m or more social distance and will continue to wear a mask in public / crowded places.
- Elderly people (aged 75+), residents with a disability or impairment and residents from BAME backgrounds tend to be more concerned about COVID and the lifting of restrictions; whilst young people (aged 16 – 34) are more keen to return to normal and are less likely to be cautious following the lifting of restrictions.