The sixth iteration of QoL was run between October 2020 and May 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns in South Africa meant that data collection for QoL 2020/21 could not begin as originally intended in April 2020. The resulting delay of six months allowed for a set of questions to be included in the survey that asked how COVID-19 may have impacted households or shifted their perceptions about their lives. A report released at the launch of QoL 2020/21 contains a summary of the key findings from the COVID-19 questions that were asked (de Kadt et al., 2021). This Data Brief examines the responses to COVID-19-specific questions in more detail and looks at some of the broader impacts on households, society, the economy and governance.