Throughout the Covid pandemic, there has been a strong sense that it has provided society with an inflection point that will encourage us to pause and think about what kind of world we want to emerge once the pandemic eases. As research from the University of Bristol illustrates, for many of us, we want the post-Covid world to be more sustainable. Sadly, however, few of us have much confidence in such a world materializing.
The study found that the most popular post-Covid future was one that was fairer with “grassroots leadership”, which was favored by around 40% of participants. This was more than four times more popular than returning to our pre-Covid normality. Unfortunately, most people thought that this return to pre-Covid normality was far more likely, in part due to their belief that their desire for change was in the minority.
“The findings revealed people’s appetite for positive change, but also a strong sense of skepticism about whether this would actually materialize or that their views were in fact widely shared,” the researchers explain.
“This is important for everyone, including leaders and policymakers, to know so we can recognize and raise awareness of the common consensus contrary to popular belief. When people start to feel in the majority with their hopes, this instills greater belief and action towards achieving and making them real.”
The desire for change
Respondents said that they most missed time with family and friends during the pandemic, with more public social activities, such as going to restaurants also much missed. Something that wasn’t missed was the commute to work, with most people being quite happy to have lost what they regard as unwanted travel. This corresponded to around 20% of respondents who wanted to remain working from home in the future.
The reduction in pollution this fall in mobility helped to bring about was also widely supported, with around 20% also hoping for a more caring and less individualistic future to emerge post-Covid. There was a strong sense that people wanted to improve their sense of friendliness and community, while also maintaining the appreciation of key workers that emerged during the pandemic.
“This study provides hugely rich insights into people’s feelings during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they want to emerge from it,” the researchers say. “While many have faced great sacrifice and loss, there are also some silver linings which people clearly want to hang on to both for their own benefit and the greater good. These range from having more time and flexibility to devote to family to playing a more active role in the community, caring for others, and protecting the environment which is also in grave peril.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, while a general desire for a more progressive future was fairly uniform, it was nonetheless more pronounced among those who identify as center-left or left on the political spectrum. Indeed, the only people who tended to disagree with the general sentiment were those on the extreme right, with the center-right respondents largely indifferent.
“The findings show an overwhelming level of endorsement to ‘build back better’ and indicate this would be broadly accepted across the political spectrum,” the authors conclude. “This should give decision-makers confidence when driving forward measures to help combat growing challenges which extend far beyond the pandemic, namely climate change, and inequality.”
