The Covid pandemic has dominated our thoughts for much of the past two years, but with the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis battling for attention, research from UCL reveals that other things are now more of a priority.
The survey shows that people are increasingly worried about their financial situation, and that these concerns have now overtaken concerns about catching Covid. This was reflected in barely half of the respondents saying they felt in control of their finances, with this especially so among working-age adults.
Changing priorities
The concerns around Covid are notable as infections are currently extremely high, with hospital admissions broadly the same as when concern was much higher. Perhaps understandably, the survey also found that both happiness and life satisfaction levels have been falling consistently since summer 2021. This is despite people generally getting out and about for entertainment more than over much of the Covid period.
“These findings could suggest that our return to more ‘normal’ living has not had all the mental health benefits that people necessarily expected. But it is also notable that the last few months have seen a cost-of-living crisis emerge,” the researchers explain. “Concerns about money have been increasing, with people now more concerned about finances than about COVID-19. This suggests that new psychological stressors are becoming dominant for individuals.”
This is reflected in the number of people who are currently taking precautionary measures to protect themselves from Covid, with mask-wearing indoors falling to below 30%, compared to nearly 70% at Christmas 2021. Indeed, even the use of lateral flow tests showed a sharp decline, down from 43% prior to meeting people at Christmas to 12% in March.
“The findings reported here highlight how the government’s new relaxed COVID-19 guidelines have affected the way that people view the illness,” the researchers explain. “The figures from March show a significant drop in the number of people worried about either catching the virus or becoming seriously ill from it, alongside a decline in those following previous COVID-19 safety guidelines such as mask wearing, social distancing and regular testing.”
Despite this, the researchers urge people not to become lassez faire and assume that there is no risk as the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, are the same now, or higher, than they were in January, so the situation hasn’t changed, despite the relaxation in attitudes.
“Recent research has shown that the cost of living increases are having a negative impact on people’s mental health, especially those living on low incomes,” the authors conclude. “In addition, these findings suggest that the psychological impacts of the pandemic are continuing after restrictions have been lifted. It is crucial that effective mental health support is available and accessible to those who need it.”
