Covid: Lockdown habits could outlast the pandemic, poll suggests

PA Media

Working from home, walking and shopping locally are among the lockdown behaviours that look likely to remain popular after pandemic restrictions are lifted, according to a new survey.

The study for BBC News and King's College London, conducted by Ipsos MORI, suggests virus regulations may have a lasting impact after Covid.

Some 40% of 2,200 people surveyed said they expected to walk more than before.

And staying at home appears to have connected people to their neighbours.

The survey also suggests the country is divided on whether the country is divided - 38% think the pandemic has deepened divisions, while 35% think it's brought people closer together.

Almost a third of workers (32%) say they anticipate working from home more and doing more of their shopping locally (31%). A quarter of commuters (23%) say they will do less travelling to work than they used to, rising to almost a third (31%) in London.

It remains to be seen how significant the move from office working will be, but the implications are potentially huge.

In the English capital, for example, a reduction of a third in the numbers making the daily trek into central London would be a major hit to the hospitality and other service sectors that rely on commuters.

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A number of big employers have suggested they expect to see a permanent reduction in the number of people working from offices or the number of days spent commuting.

A shift in spending towards local neighbourhoods could bring economic advantages to smaller towns and High Streets, many of which have been badly affected by the move to online shopping.

The last year has not been uniformly bad for people. The survey suggests a quarter of the population (24%) had a "much worse" year than average, and two-thirds of people overall (65%) said it was "worse" than usual.

But one in ten (10%) say the last year has actually been better than average.

Surprisingly, perhaps, 18% of young people (16-24) say the last 12 months have been better than average.

The pandemic also appears to have changed political priorities.

Seven in ten say health workers should get more financial support from government. Around six in ten think the low-paid (62%) and social care staff (58%) deserve more help, and around half want homeless people (53%) and small businesses (50%) to get more state assistance.

However, 44% say people in other countries who receive financial aid from the UK should get less money after the pandemic.

It may be a year since the start of the first nationwide lockdown, but it remains far from clear how this pandemic will change us and what the "new normal" might look like. The crisis is not yet over and the safety nets put in place by the government largely remain.

How we respond to the profound economic, political and social challenges that lie ahead will be the real test of how Covid has changed Britain.

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March 23, 2021 at 03:58PM
By Mark Easton
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56490823