Signs of stress and polarisation in these later stages of the pandemic, report Demos - the difficulty of being "all in it together"
We’re interested to read polling and opinion research that maps whether Coronavirus has effected a shift in people’s attitudes towards the future (see our app project trying to capture this, in the early days of the pandemic, titled Before Now).
Here’s a challenging report/survey from the think-tank Demos, called Renew Normal: The People’s Commission on Life After COVID-19 (PDF download here).
Demos’s director, Polly Mackenzie, laid out her take on the report in the following tweet thread:
At the start of the pandemic, people felt unified. After years of division over Brexit, this terrible disease might at least bring us back together. ONS data suggested, at the high point, more than 60% believed it would. But that's gone.
In our research, huge numbers of people are willing to use words like "hate" and "resent" about those who disagree with them, whether on masks, lockdown or social distancing.
There are lots of reasons why this is happening. We're exhausted - 45% report higher stress, 42% say their prospects for the future have deteriorated
The stakes are incredibly high: lives and livelihoods. We're told in government advertising that good actions will save lives. We're told not to kill granny. That creates - legitimately, perhaps - a heightened emotional atmosphere.
And of course millions have made huge personal sacrifices, so it's not a huge surprise they feel resentful towards those who appear to have carried on more or less as normal.
But I'd also lay blame on our politics, which now seems to default to culture war. Social media algorithms that drive us to more extreme content; over-empowered party memberships. We're addicted to the highs of tribal warfare, and consensus-building seems too tame.
Our government secured power with a "divide and conquer" strategy. It's what they do best. Do they even know how to make friends and build alliances with those of differing opinions?
But at some point: we have to choose. Do we want to fall apart or come together? The current path will lead to more anger, more division, and less of the Prime Minister's favourite tipple: optimism.
Renew Normal, @demos' national conversation on life after Covid-19, is working with members of the public to identify the best way to rebuild our society after this crisis. Our work has identified eight issues on which the public wants change.
1. More access to green space.
2. More working from home (but not for everyone.)
3. Stronger communities and more opportunities for volunteering in public services.
4. Keeping improved access to online services (but please can you make the WiFi work)
5. Better treatment for low paid workers.
6. A crackdown on misinformation.
7. Less reliance on trade for essential goods and services
8. More effort to tackle inequalities.
Over the coming months, we'll be conducting open research with anyone and everyone who wants to get involved: to identify what our nation wants, and how we can deliver it.
A practical programme to deliver the changes people really want in their lives - this is the best hope we have for rebuilding a society that has been ravaged by the consequences of this dreadful disease.
There are other interesting percentages in the report:
Middle class people were by far the most likely to report upsides from this crisis. For example, 22% of those on incomes of less than £20,000 felt their spending habits had improved, rising to 37% of those on incomes of more than £50,000. More than a third of those in social grade A said they felt happier, compared to just 18% of those in grade E.
Young people were more likely to say they’ve got better mental health during the pandemic: 21% of 18-24s and 24% of 25-29s compared with 11% overall. This may be associated with the numbers reporting better health habits during the lockdown period: younger groups were far more likely to say they had eaten better, exercised more, and improved their physical health.
Our findings show that the social divide on the key questions associated with Covid-19 - such as mask wearing or lockdown rules - is now deeper than the divide over Brexit.
58% of mask wearers say they hate (12%), resent (29%) or think non-mask wearers are bad people (16%)
56% of lockdown supporters say they hate (11%), resent (30%) or think opposers of lockdown are bad people (16%)
68% of people who did not break lockdown rules say they hate (14%), resent (33%) or think lockdown rule breakers are bad people (21%)
36% of people who clapped for the NHS say they hate (8%), resent (18%) or think non-clappers are bad people (9%)
60% of people who did not stockpile essentials say they hate (14%), resent (31%) or think stockpilers are bad people (15%)
For comparison, 33% of people who didn’t vote leave resent, hate, or think people who voted for Brexit are bad people; 26% either admire, respect or think they’re good people
Leavers are even less resentful of Remainers - 33% of people who didn’t vote Remain say they admire/respect/think Remain voters are good people, only 20% that they resent/hate/think they’re bad people
The anger seems to be felt more intensely by those who support stronger counter-measures in the fight against Covid-19.
People who are more relaxed or sceptical about lockdown and safety precautions did not resent the more concerned and cautious - non-mask wearers were more likely to say positive than negative things about mask wearers, with the same true of lockdown opponents about lockdown supporters.
Like the Brexit divide that dominated politics for the years after the referendum, there is a clear separation in attitudes to lockdown between people of different age groups. Retired people are the biggest supporters of lockdown itself: 91% support lockdown. By contrast, a quarter of 18-24s opposed lockdown and 29% admitted to breaking the rules.
From our own perspective, we would point to our recent work with the Local Trust, A New Story of Us. It showed how a rich facilitation and deliberation process could shift people’s attitudes - away from an isolated, polarised and anxious stance towards the challenges of COVID, and towards a more confident, creative and energetic position.
And we’d also point to last week’s intro blog to our next Elephant discussion - which looks at how mindfulness can improve people’s capacity for intention, action and agency. There are perhaps some strengthening practices that can be embarked on, not dependent on the whim and favour of government policy…