Social Impact of COVID-19 Survey February 2021: Well-being

The fifth round of the Social Impact of COVID-19 Survey was undertaken to measure the impact COVID-19 has had on Irish society in February 2021.  This survey was carried out between Tuesday 9^th February and Monday 15^th February and was based on a sample of 5,247 persons aged 18 years and over.  The survey utilised an online electronic questionnaire to produce a final achieved sample size of 1,621 individuals.

The topics covered in the survey included well-being, the impact of school closures, holiday plans in 2021 and COVID-19 vaccination.  Analysis is provided across key personal and household demographic characteristics, reflecting how COVID-19 has impacted different people in different ways.  This publication focuses on the well-being topic.  On Friday 26^th February, the CSO will publish results related to the impact of school closures and on Monday March 1^st we will publish results related to holiday plans in 2021 and COVID-19 vaccination.

Well-being

• Almost six in ten (57.1%) respondents reported that their mental health/well-being has been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Almost three in four (74.4%) of those aged 18-34 reported this negative effect, compared to less than one in three (32.4%) respondents aged 70 and over.
• Over six in ten (62.4%) female respondents reported that their mental health/well-being has been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic compared with just over five in ten (51.7%)  male respondents.
• Overall, 4.2% of respondents reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has positively affected their mental health.  Analysis by sex shows that female respondents were more likely to report a positive impact, with 6.7% reporting such an impact, compared with 1.6% of men.
• The percentage of respondents that felt downhearted or depressed All or Most of the time in the four-week period prior to interview was 5.5% during the first COVID-19 wave (April 2020), this rate increased to 11.5% during the second wave (November 2020) and the rate during the third wave (February 2021) is 15.1%.
• Analysis by age shows that in February 2021, one in five (20.5%) respondents aged 18 to 34 reported being downhearted or depressed All or Most of the time compared with 5.7% of those aged 70 years and over.
• In February 2021, more than four in ten (41.7%)  respondents rated their overall life satisfaction as Low (the highest rating for Low overall life satisfaction captured in these surveys to date).  The comparable rates in April and November 2020 were 30.5% and 35.6% respectively. In 2018 when the economy was growing strongly, the rate was 8.8%.
• Almost 17% of female respondents felt lonely All or Most of the time in the four-week period prior to interview compared with 9.2% of male respondents.
• Respondents living in rented accommodation were twice as likely to report feeling lonely All or Most of the time in November than those in owner-occupied dwellings (22.2% vs 10.3%).

Compliance and other results

• In February 2021, three in four (75.1%) respondents rated their compliance with current government advice and guidelines as High.  This is ten percentage points higher than the rate in November 2020, when 65.2% of respondents rated their compliance as High.
• Respondents reporting High compliance was lowest in June 2020 (59.9%) when the country was just about to enter Phase 3 of the Roadmap for reopening society and highest in April 2020 (80.6%) approximately one month after initial COVID-19 restrictions were implemented.
• In November 2020 one in ten (10.2%) respondents felt that the Level 5 response to managing COVID-19 related risk was Not sufficient. In February 2021 over one in four (26.4%) feel that the current Level 5 response is Not sufficient.
• In November 2020, 18.3% of respondents felt that the Level 5 response to managing COVID-19 related risk was Too extreme. In February 2021 this rate has dropped to 13.1%.
• In November 2020, four in ten (39.2%)  respondents thought that by November 2021 their lives will return to something similar to what it was pre-COVID-19. In February 2021, 23.6% of respondents think that this will happen by November 2021.
• In November 4.3% of respondents believed that their lives will Never return to normal. The comparable rate in February 2021 is 8.9% (double the November 2020 rate).
• Six in ten (61.4%) respondents believe that once current Level 5 restrictions are eased that similar restrictions will be reimposed before the end of the year. Respondents living in households with children were more likely to report that they believe that similar restrictions will be reimposed with 71.0% of such respondents reporting this.

The results presented in this publication have been weighted to best reflect the population.  Due to time and resource constraints, there were limitations on the sample size and selection methodology.  Consequently, caution must be exercised when making inferences to the entire population from these results.  Nonetheless, this data provides a valuable insight into the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of many people in Ireland.  For further details on the survey methodology, see Background Notes.