According to a YouGov survey, young adults and women have absorbed the brunt of the pandemic’s psychological and financial tolls – yet few people everywhere are considering changing their life in response to it.
The annual YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project indicated that in several of the 27 nations surveyed, young people were consistently more inclined than their elders to believe that the Covid crisis had worsened their financial and mental health issues.
France’s pandemic has taken a toll on young people’s mental health, with over half (47 percent) saying it has affected their well-being, compared to only a quarter (25 percent) of those 55 and older.
In Germany, 38% of teenagers and 22% of seniors reported that Covid had harmed their mental health. Sweden had a 42% to 19% split, Spain and Italy a 51% to 39% split, Britain a 50% to 25% split, Australia a 51% to 28% split, and Mexico a 41% to 18% split.
As a result of the pandemic, women were more likely than males to express a negative impact on their lives, while younger individuals were more likely than older people to report similar concerns.
More than half of British women (55%) think their working lives are more stressful than those of men (36%) and more than two-thirds (42%) of Spanish women (60%) admit that they are concerned about their personal finances, mental health, and job stress.
Only 27 percent of the population in France, 24 percent in Germany, 15 percent in Sweden, 22 percent in the UK, 29 percent in Australia, and 27 percent in the United States reported that the pandemic had affected their personal finances.
Consistently bigger proportions said the same across the board in nations such as Spain, Italy, Spain, Greece, Greece, Hungary, Hungary and Poland. And in countries such as Brazil (54%), Thailand (68%) and Kenya (75%). (59 percent ).
People in Greece, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, Kenya, and South Africa were more concerned about their finances because of the pandemic than those in the UK (31 percent), Sweden (24 percent), and Denmark (24 percent) (15 percent ).
In other areas of life, there was a similar narrative. Spain (44%) and Italy (47%) and Greece (58%) were more likely than those in Brazil (46%) and Japan (45%) to indicate that the pandemic had a negative impact on their mental health (61 percent ).
Spain, Italy, and Greece had the highest percentages of people who said the epidemic had affected their future plans (41% in Spain, 50% in Italy, and 61% in Greece), with Turkey (51%) and South Africa (51%) being in the top three.
Outside of Europe, however, optimism about the future was highest: Brazil (63%) Mexico (57%); Egypt (55%); Saudi Arabia (70%); India (61%); Indonesia (73%); Kenya (81%); Nigeria (88%); South Africa (63%); and Mexico (63%).
More than a third of those in mainland Europe indicated they were pessimistic about their personal future, ranging from France (29 percent) to Germany (34 percent), Spain (34 percent), Italy (27 percent), Greece (24 percent), and Hungary (34 percent) (32 percent ). There was a somewhat higher percentage of positive sentiment in the UK (42%), Australia (45%), the United States (45%), as well as Canada (44%).
According to a poll conducted in the early phases of the pandemic, Covid-19 had not had a significant impact on people’s lives or lifestyles around the world, such as working from home.
By far the majority of employees in roles where home-working was possible stated they would prefer to work from home just some of the time or not at all, rather than “most of the time” or “the whole time”.
Few people around the world indicated the pandemic had motivated them to make or seriously consider major life changes, such as moving to another town or nation, changing their employment, or breaking up with their spouse.
Only a small percentage of people in France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Britain, Australia, the United States, and Canada stated they had decided to go to another area of the country, with only 10% or fewer saying they had planned to relocate elsewhere (7 percent ).
More than one in five people in South Africa, Kenya, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Brazil had altered their careers as a result of the coronavirus (21 percent, 20 percent, 20 percent, 20 percent, and 22 percent, respectively) (22 percent ).
Measures like these convey a picture of people going about their day-to-day routines with little drama. Most people, when asked if they now sleep, exercise, drink, or eat healthily more or less than before the pandemic, indicated no general change in their habits.
Only a very small minority of people around the world reported that the pandemic had made their connections “less close” to their partners or children, according to the study results.
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