Other age groups still wearing face coverings at about the same rate
With face coverings no longer essential following the loosening of restrictions in England on 19 July – dubbed ‘Freedom Day’ – YouGov’s COVID-19 trackers show that mask use has fallen significantly among the youngest Britons.
While the majority of 18-24 year olds (58%) had worn a mask in the previous two weeks when we asked a few days before 19 July, the latest survey (conducted 21-22 July) shows that this figure has since fallen to 46%.
Other age groups remain largely as likely to wear masks as they were before Freedom Day, including 66% of 25-49 year olds, 73% of 50-64 year olds and 83% of those aged 65 and above.
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As well as being increasingly maskless, young Britons have been far more likely to find themselves in crowded situations since 19 July. While last week 38% of 18-24 year olds had been avoiding crowded places, this has now fallen to 26%. This compared to a more modest drop among 25-49 year olds (from 47% to 42%) and little to no change among those aged 50 and above.
With young people less likely to be fully vaccinated (21% according to our latest tracker data), and more likely to have disabled their NHS COVID-19 app, the results highlight the increased risk young people are putting themselves – and others – in.
Opening England up hasn’t helped the government’s approval rating
While the government might have been hoping that letting people get a step closer to normal life once again would improve their image, the opposite is true. The proportion of Britons thinking the government is handling COVID-19 well has fallen from 41% just before Freedom Day to 34% afterwards.
More concerning for the government are attitudes among Conservative voters, which tumbled 17pts this week. Prior to 19 July, three quarters (73%) of Conservative voters thought the government was doing a good job of managing the pandemic response. Now only 56% do, the lowest to date among Tory voters.
See the latest results here