DThe corona crisis seems to have lost its worst horror in Germany. Compared with winter, the new crown virus not only poses a small threat to the body, but the pandemic hardly affects emotions. FAZ’s availability of current survey data from the Hamburg-Eppendorf University Medical Center shows this.
In the ten-point scale, satisfaction dropped from 7.2 in August 2020 to 6.1 in April 2021. In early July, the value rebounded to 7.0, roughly equivalent to the pre-crisis level. Martin Schroeder, a Marburg sociologist who analyzed the data, said: “Compared with the end of the first wave last year, satisfaction has recovered very quickly this year.”
During the pandemic, the responses of 520 people repeatedly asked by Hamburg researchers Anne Runde and Gregor Leicht showed that the Germans have recovered from the pandemic and blockade. The data does not reflect whether the decline in the risk of coronavirus, the progress of vaccination or the economic improvement are the main reasons for the recovery.
A comparison shows the severity of the depression during the corona crisis: the decline in life satisfaction is twice that of unemployment, and according to research, unemployment is one of the worst destinies in history. The survey data of the socio-economic team also showed that during the two blockades, the Germans also felt extremely lonely on average, so the unhappiness of the second blockade was more common than the first. Doctors and psychologists sounded the alarm, especially during the second lockdown, as the number of patients with mental health problems rose sharply. Young people are particularly affected.
Germans are happy again
Schröder said that the sharp rise to 7 points is more gratifying, which is a greater leap in luck than when people get married. Researchers suspect that in the next few weeks, satisfaction will rise further and will stabilize at the high level before the crisis.
In the long run, in any case, the Germans will be more and more satisfied. From 2005 to 2019, with the long-term economic recovery, life satisfaction has steadily increased, and the financial crisis of 2008/2009 has not changed.
Now, the recovery is also going hand-in-hand with the economic upturn: the number of unemployed people fell sharply in June to only 2.6 million. Many short-term workers have returned to work, and the company has started hiring again. According to data from the Federal Employment Agency, the number of unemployed is still about 400,000 more than before the crisis, but the recovery is proceeding at a record speed. The sentiment indicators in the economy all point upward. Most economic researchers believe that the current economic output in the third quarter will return to pre-crisis levels.
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The premise of all this is that there is no fourth wave. Because it was the same last summer, the satisfaction score soared before disillusionment again. Sociologist Schroeder said that especially for people who have not been vaccinated, the increase in satisfaction in the new wave of events may turn into a “bubble” this year.
