During 2020-2021, the UK entered a variable lockdown system, with your freedom being postcode dependent. Originally labelled as a two-week-rest, these lockdowns ended up stretching for 215 days (30 weeks) in total, a measly 1500% extension. But, as we now know, there was no coherent scientific evidence that proved lockdowns to be an effective measure of control during any strain of COVID-19. Nevertheless, our politicians were repeatedly advised to shut down the nation to protect the population. As a result of metaphorically and literally closing the doors to the outside world, numerous societal issues intensified, with many not falling back to pre-pandemic levels, and others showing a prolonged, yet immense effect. So, disregarding the rushed authoritarian decision made by our governmental officials, and only focusing on its societal outcomes, we can suggest that the COVID-19 lockdowns were disastrous for the general population. Here is why:

Mental Health

When we compare pre-, during and post-lockdown, the British population reported higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms during. However, after the lockdowns ended, neither issues reduced back to pre-COVID levels, instead both opted for unusually large trend spikes, suggesting this anti-social policy encouraged lasting mental health damage. Not only this, but we saw a sharp 27% increase in alcohol-specific deaths from 2019-2021, and a 10% rise in drug-related overdoses. And, as with depression and anxiety, these rates have not dropped to pre-COVID levels, indicating lasting damage occurred.

Children

The impact of this extended period away from in-person learning should not be understated. Even though some bring humour to the lack of school, it has had a lasting effect on our children. Firstly, they experienced similar anxiety and depression levels as adults, but instead of using alcohol or drugs as a management, they coped by turning to online counselling and helplines. Unfortunately, some may see the dip in clinical referrals as a positive outcome from the lockdowns, but as closures ended, there was a surge in children seeking support. Essentially, due to the closure of schools, children had less access to external support, especially in lower income areas, causing these rates to drop. But, as soon as schools re-opened the number of children seeking advice jumped by 47% and those classified as having mental disorders almost doubled.

Unfortunately, it does not stop there. The movement to E-learning saw a 35% reduction in learning progress compared to expectations, with deficits still in recovery phase. This means that we can expect GCSE and A-level results to lag behind previous records for numerous years to come, with either universities needing to reduce acceptance criteria, or less British qualified students being able to attend. Speaking of test scores, during lockdown, students from comprehensive schools were 13.3% less likely to achieve an A/A* grade at A-levels compared to independent, which at that time, was the highest on record. Even though this number has reduced, it has not gone down to pre-COVID levels, suggesting the parental ability to help educate during this period has been vital to sustaining attainment. Also, households with children attending independent schools usually have higher incomes to improve home-learning capacity alongside having more confidence and time (working from home) to support, further explaining the gap.

Even though during lockdown children’s social care attendances fell, this was not because case numbers reduced, but instead health visitors were unable to visit children in the usual way. Helplines, instead, spiked. Police recorded more usage of online child sexual abuse material, a shift that makes sense considering the isolation. But as services reopened, cases became more visible again, confirming the prediction. Prevalence had not reduced, it had just become harder to spot. The fall in visibility likely increased the risk and reduced detection, leaving at-risk children vulnerable. Simultaneously, autism assessment pathways experienced an immense backlog. Open referrals climbed from early 2020 and families found themselves stuck, unable to access support, leaving those affected to worsen without adequate attention.

Also, childhood obesity surged during the lockdown period with all years in primary school experiencing at least a 21% increase. But even though this has eased, it is only partial with all years experiencing a pre- to post-pandemic rise above expected levels, exactly mirroring the collapse in daily movement, organised sport and routine.

Adults

Alike with the isolated children, adults experienced a plethora of issues. However, unlike the children experiencing heightened sexual vulnerability, British women suffered rising rates of domestic abuse. Relevant helplines experienced a 65% increase in calls during the lockdown with levels still sitting 50% above pre-COVID averages. Moreover, even though official statistics recorded a drop in rape and sexual violence reports during lockdown, after the restrictions eased, they both surged to way above pre-pandemic levels, with no sign of a return. These may partly explain the rise in divorces (+9.6%) as lockdown restrictions eased.

Also, as expected, fewer were taking part in physical activity during the lockdowns, especially with the closures of gyms and organised sport. However, even though obesity rates in adults did climb, they were steadily on target with expectations, and are still on target to be 30% in a few years.

NHS

Pre-pandemic, the elective waiting list in England was about 4.6 million but during COVID, non-urgent care halted, leaving the list to peak at 7.7 million last year. As most of these cases are within the usual 18-week standard, it is understandable that things skyrocketed. However, before COVID, the 52-week waits were almost zero but after the pandemic, we were left with 411,000 patients waiting for NHS intervention.

Therefore, even before COVID the backlog was extremely off track, but lockdowns just intensified the issue, leaving median wait times nearly double and only modest falls since. Although policies have prioritised eliminating the longest wait times and reducing backlog, not much success has been seen.

Economy

Personally felt economic impacts were felt across the nation with a huge spike in Universal Credit claims, record redundancy rates despite furlough, severe hits to buying power from double digit inflation and suppressed consumption from shop closure in price rises.

As expected, locking down the nation for an extended period wreaked havoc on finances. It got so bad that during its peak, the UK government were experiencing 100,000 Universal Credit applications daily, way above the usual 8,000. But, this is expected with redundancies peaking at 14.2 per 1,000, a 370% increase from pre-pandemic levels.

Inflation hit its modern peak at 11.1%, driven by energy, food and transport, completely eroding household buying power. To make matters worse, real regular pay fell at record with 3.9% year on year in 2022. The combination of extremely high inflation and falling real wages during the lockdown and post-pandemic period marked 2022 as one of the worst years for living-standards growth in recent records, with the economy being on the brink point of entering a technical recession.

Pre vs During vs Post

Indicator	Pre (baseline)	During lockdowns	Post (after main restrictions)
High anxiety (ONS personal well‑being)	19.5% reporting “high” anxiety (Apr–Jun 2018, ONS dashboard reference)	24.2% reporting “high” anxiety in 2020/21 (annual ONS well‑being)	23.4% reporting “high” anxiety in 2022/23; ONS weekly waves in spring 2022 also showed ~34% using a 0–10 threshold definition
Domestic abuse helpline demand (index)	2019/20 baseline (index = 100)	+65% calls/contacts Apr–Jun 2020 vs Jan–Mar 2020 (index ≈ 165); Refuge also reported a 25% call rise in late‑Mar week and surging web traffic	~+61% by Feb 2021 vs 2019/20 baseline (index ≈ 161), with levels around ~50% above pre‑COVID averages through late 2020/early 2021
Learning loss (school‑age, years)	≈0 year deficit (pre‑pandemic baseline)	≈0.33–0.35 of a school year on average; larger in maths and for disadvantaged pupils (33-35% reduced learning progress)	Deficits persisted into early 2022 in pooled estimates, indicating partial recovery at best by that point
Child obesity (Reception, England)	9.9% (2019/20)	14.4% (2020/21)	10.1% (2021/22)
Child obesity (Year 6, England)	21.0% (2019/20)	25.5% (2020/21)	23.4% (2021/22)
Adult physical activity (narrative trend)	Higher pre‑COVID participation (2019 baseline)	~700,000 fewer active adults and ~1 million more inactive vs pre‑COVID in 2020/21	Gradual recovery from spring 2021; by 2023/24 participation reached a record level (narrative trend series)
Alcohol‑specific deaths (UK)	2019 baseline; ONS notes 2021 was +27% vs 2019	Rose in 2020 from 2019 after relative stability, continuing upward into 2021	9,641 in 2021 (+27% vs 2019) with historically elevated levels in later releases
NHS elective waiting list (England)	≈4.4 million waiting (Feb 2020)	5.8 million (Sep 2021), with sharp rises in >52‑week waits	≈7.0 million (Aug 2022), showing persistent backlogs post‑reopening
Universal Credit (claims)	Far below spring 2020 spike pre‑COVID	1.8 million declarations between 16 Mar and 12 Apr 2020 (peaks >100,000/day)	Claims subsided but caseload remained elevated into 2020–21
Drug poisoning deaths (England & Wales)	4,393 deaths in 2019 (76.7 per million)	4,561 in 2020 (79.5 per million)	4,859 in 2021 (84.4 per million)
Adults with depressive symptoms (PHQ‑8)	10% (Jul 2019–Mar 2020)	21% in early 2021 (27 Jan–7 Mar)	16% in autumn 2022 (29 Sep–23 Oct)
Divorces (England & Wales)	107,599 (2019)	103,592 (2020)	113,505 (2021), noting 2022 counts affected by law change
Child abuse (children’s social care referrals, England)	642,980 (2019/20)	597,760 (2020/21, −7% YoY; visibility suppressed)	650,270 (2021/22, +8.8% vs 2020/21; +1.1% vs 2019/20); school‑origin referrals up ~59% vs 2020/21
Autism referrals/waits (open suspected referrals, England)	≈52,000 waiting (Feb 2020)	≈140,000 waiting (Dec 2022)	172,022 waiting (Dec 2023); 79% waited >13 weeks; median >9 months vs >4 months in 2019
Child prevalence of probable mental disorders	Ages 6-16, 11.6%	Ages 6-16, 17.4%	Ages 8-16, 20.3%
NHS Referrals and Young Person’s Mental Health Services	539,000	498,000 (-8.2% YoY)	734,000 (+36% from pre- & 47% during) 2022/23 reached approximately 949,200 referrals
A level inequality gap (independent minus comprehensive) at A/A*	24.0 percentage points	30.8 percentage points	Gap narrowed from 2021 but top‑grade attainment stayed above 2019 across sectors (narrative)

In the end, the extended lockdown era did not simply pause everyday life, it rewired it in ways that left deep scars. Across mental health, child safety and learning, family life, the NHS, and household finances, the pattern repeats, visibility dropped and harm increased.

For children, the costs were almost invisible. Heightend stress was sent through helplines, lost learning may not ever recover, attainment inequality increased, a spike in obesity and autism assessments jammed. For adults, isolation amplified risk at home and online, with domestic abuse rising, sexual violence reports rebounding, activity habits degrading, and addiction skyrocketing, all of which have outlived the policy that sparked it.

Public services are still bearing that weight. The NHS backlog, once just an embarrassing figure, has now embedded itself in British mockery. And for households, the economic backlash was personal. Mass benefits were claimed, redundancies spiked, incomes were squeezed and inflation ran wages into the ground.

If there is a lesson, it is not that society must simple choose between health and liberty, but that blunt, prolonged restrictions impose long lasting damage to all parts of life. The path forward is obvious. Rebuild where backlogs and harm still persist, crack down on those taking advantage of the vulnerable, guarantee stable support to protect living standard of all, and hardwire the importance of communal safety into our culture. The next crisis will come. We owe it to ourselves to learn from these past few years and pre-craft proportionate, time‑limited measures that clearly evaluate all plausible impacts, not just implement rules with unexamined consequences.