This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example, new administrative data sources.
This chapter explores how the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic has potentially affected the social behaviours of respondents. This includes personal hygiene, COVID-19 testing, interactions with persons outside the home, attendance at religious ceremonies, and youths attending structured social activities.
According to research undertaken by the Department of Health throughout the pandemic, 96% of people washed their hands more often as a result of COVID-19 and 90% of people said that they will continue to wash their hands more frequently.
Survey respondents to our Pulse survey were asked when they compare how often they wash their hands now with the frequency before COVID-19 restrictions were introduced, has the frequency Increased, Decreased or No change.
More than half (56%) of all respondents report that they wash their hands more often now than before the onset of the pandemic. More than 6% say their hand-washing frequency has Decreased while 37% report No change in frequency. See figure 3.1 and table 3.1.
| X-axis label | Frequency of handwashing |
|---|---|
| Increased | 56 |
| Decreased | 6 |
| No change | 37 |
Female respondents are considerably more likely to report they wash their hands more often now than before the pandemic compared with male respondents (61% versus 51%).
Younger respondents are most likely to report that they wash their hands more often now than before the onset of the pandemic. Six in ten (60%) respondents in the 18-29 and 30-39 age categories say they have Increased their handwashing now compared with early March 2020. Older respondents, i.e. those aged 70 and over, are least likely (53%) to report an increase in handwashing while one in ten (10%) of this age group say they wash their hands less often than before March 2020.
More than six in ten (62%) respondents say they test for COVID-19 if they have, what they consider to be, COVID-19 like symptoms, with more females than males saying they do this (67% compared with 56%).
Older respondents are most likely (70%) to test for COVID-19 if they are symptomatic while younger respondents are least likely. Just half (53%) of respondents in the 18-29 age groups say they test for COVID-19 if they have COVID-19 like symptoms.
The propensity to test for COVID-19 if symptomatic decreases as the health status of the respondent improves. Almost 70% of those who rate their health as fair/bad/very bad say they test for COVID-19 compared with 54% of those who rate their health as very good. See figure 3.2 and table 3.2.
| X-axis label | Test for COVID-19 if symptomatic |
|---|---|
| Fair/bad/very bad | 69 |
| Good | 63 |
| Very good | 54 |
Respondents were asked how they currently interact with people outside of the home compared with how they did before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, were they more likely to try to
Respondents were asked to select all that applied, or they could answer ‘No such changes when interacting with others’.
| X-axis label | More likely to try to |
|---|---|
| Keep at least a metre | 9 |
| Avoid when they are sick | 56 |
| Avoid others when I am sick | 59 |
| Avoid social gathering | 15 |
| Avoid handshaking | 25 |
One-quarter (25%) of respondents say they try to avoid handshaking when interacting with people outside of the home. See figure 3.3 and table 3.3.
Female respondents are considerably more likely to attempt to avoid handshaking compared with males (32% versus 18%).
Younger respondents, i.e. those aged 18-29, are least likely (20%) to report trying to avoid handshaking.
Those with poorer health try to avoid handshaking more than those with better health. Three in ten (31%) respondents who rate their health as fair/bad/very bad say they try to avoid handshaking compared with two in ten (21%) of those who rate their health as very good.
More than one in seven (15%) respondents say they try to avoid social gatherings with a slightly higher proportion of females than males reporting this (16% compared with 14%). See table 3.3.
More than one in four (27%) respondents who rate their health as fair/bad/very bad say they tried to avoid social gatherings. This is almost four times the proportion (7%) of those who rate their health as very good. See figure 3.4 and table 3.3.
| X-axis label | Health status |
|---|---|
| Very good | 7 |
| Good | 14 |
| Fair/bad/very bad | 27 |
Survey respondents who are less well-off are more inclined to try and avoid social gatherings than those who are more affluent. Almost three in ten (28%) respondents who rate their household’s financial situation as bad say they are more likely to try to avoid social gatherings than before the pandemic. This is almost three times the proportion (11%) of those who rate their household’s financial situation as good.
Six in ten (59%) of respondents report they try to avoid others when they themselves are sick. Nearly seven in ten (68%) female respondents said they tried to avoid others compared with just under half (49%) of male respondents. See table 3.3.
Respondents in the oldest age group are least likely (47%) to report trying to avoid others when they themselves are sick, while those aged 30-39 are most likely (68%) to.
Almost 70% of employee respondents who started working remotely from home since the onset of the pandemic and who now spend at least half their working week working from home say they try to avoid others when they are sick. The comparable figure is 55% for employees who do not usually work from home.
When it comes to people avoiding others when sick, a similar proportion, 56%, of respondents said they try to avoid other people when they are sick. Female respondents are considerably more likely to attempt avoidance than males (65% compared with 46%). Respondents in the oldest age group, i.e. those aged 70 and over, are least likely (46%) to try to avoid others if the other person is sick while respondents aged 30-39 report the greatest tendency (63%) to avoiding sick people. Six in ten (61%) respondents who rate their health as fair/bad/very bad say they try to avoid others when they are sick compared with five in ten (51%) of those who rate their health as good. See table 3.3.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents who started working remotely from home since the onset of the pandemic and who now spend at least half their working week working from home say they try to avoid others when other people are sick. This compares with just over half (52%) of employees who do not usually work from home.
Less than one in ten (9%) respondents say they still try to keep at least one-metre social distance between themselves and others. There is no difference in how males and females respond. See table 3.3.
Respondents who rate their health as fair/bad/very bad are twice as likely to try to maintain one-metre social distancing than those who describe their health as very good (14% compared with 7%).
Respondents were asked did they regularly attend religious ceremonies (e.g. mass, Sunday service, Friday prayer), in person (e.g. at a church, mosque, synagogue) before COVID-19 restrictions were first introduced. Those who did attend were then asked if they still regularly attend religious ceremonies in person. If they answered ‘No’ to this question, they were asked whether they attend religious ceremonies online instead.
One in five (20%) survey respondents say they regularly attended religious ceremonies in person prior to pandemic while more than three-quarters (76%) say they did not attend with 3% preferring not to say. A higher proportion of female respondents report they attended religious ceremonies in person in early 2020 (23% versus 17% of male respondents). Older respondents had the highest attendance rates with 44 % of those aged 70 and over reporting they regularly attended religious ceremonies in person prior to the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions while respondents aged 30 to 39 had the lowest (10%) attendance rate. See table 3.4.
The following analysis is limited to respondents who say they regularly attended religious ceremonies prior to the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions in March 2020.
Of those who regularly attended religious ceremonies in person prior to March 2020, more than half (55%) still regularly attend in-person, 8% say they attend online only, while less than four in ten (37%) say they no longer frequent religious ceremonies on a regular basis. See figure 3.5 and table 3.5.
| X-axis label | Current attendance |
|---|---|
| In Person | 55 |
| Online only | 8 |
| No longer attend | 37 |
Similar proportions of both male (36%) and female (37%) respondents say they no longer attend religious ceremonies regularly. Males are more likely to say they still regularly attend in person compared with females (58% versus 53%), while females are more likely to regularly attend online only (10% compared with 6% for males).
Older respondents are most likely to still attend religious ceremonies either in person or online. Nearly seven in ten (69%) respondents aged 70 and over say they still regularly attend in person while one in eight (12%) of this cohort opt to attend online instead. Conversely, two-thirds (67%) of younger respondents, i.e. those aged 18-29, say they no longer attend religious ceremonies regularly in any form. Three in ten (31%) say they still attend in person with only 2% saying they attend online. See figure 3.6 and table 3.5.
| X-axis label | No longer attend | Online only | In Person |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70+ | 19 | 12 | 69 |
| 60 to 69 | 32 | 8 | 60 |
| 50 to 59 | 49 | 7 | 45 |
| 40 to 49 | 43 | 9 | 48 |
| 30 to 39 | 32 | 6 | 62 |
| 18 to 29 | 67 | 2 | 31 |
One in eight (13%) respondents who rate their health as fair/bad/very bad say they now attend religious ceremonies online only. This is more than double the proportion (5%) of those who rate their health as very good. More than six in ten (61%) of those with very good health still regularly attend religious ceremonies in person. This compares with less than five in ten (47%) of those who their health as fair/bad/very bad health.
Respondents aged 18-29 were asked if they regularly attended structured social activities such as a youth club, sports club, and/or other type of social club(s)/group(s) prior to when COVID-19 restrictions were first introduced. These respondents would have been aged 13 to 25 in March 2020.
Almost half (49%) of relevant respondents say they attended some form of structured social activity in early 2020 with 29% attending sports clubs, 8% attending youth clubs, and 23% attending other types of social clubs/groups. Participation rates for males and females were relatively similar for youth clubs and other types of clubs. However, the biggest difference in participation was for sports club attendance. Almost one-third (32%) of males in this age group attended a sports club compared with one-quarter (26%) of females. See table 3.6.
Five years on, in early 2025, less than half (48%) of these respondents say they still attend some form of structured social activity with 51% of males still attending compared with 45% of females.
Of those who attended a sports club before the pandemic, 47% still attend a sports club. Approximately half (52%) of the males and four in ten (41%) of the females still attend five years on. One in five (20%) of those who frequented youth clubs in early 2020 still attend in 2025. Attendance rates are higher for males (24%) than for females (15%). Four in ten (39%) respondents still attend another type of club or group five years after the pandemic with no significant difference in participation rates for males and females. See figure 3.7 and table 3.6.
| X-axis label | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Any social club/group | 51 | 45 |
| Sports club | 52 | 41 |
| Youth club | 24 | 15 |
| Other type of social club/group | 39 | 40 |
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