Flinger Strasse in Düsseldorf: "In a crisis situation, many experienced real solidarity"
Photo:Ralph Peters / imago images
Poor and rich, right and left, east and west: there are many cracks in society. Various scientific studies are trying to measure how the corona pandemic will affect coexistence in the long term. A survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Infas research institute has now come to the conclusion that cohesion among the population has increased significantly in the past few months of the crisis.
In February, 46 percent of people still considered cohesion in Germany to be at risk, but this proportion fell to 36 percent in May and June, as the study shows. At the same time, despite the ban on contact, more and more people felt that people stood up for one another. While in February 41 percent said that citizens would not care about their fellow human beings, in early summer this was only 19 percent. Confidence in the federal government also rose: from 19 to 45 percent; satisfaction with democracy from around 50 to 60 percent.
The results are based on surveys that were conducted in two waves in February and March as well as May and June as part of the long-term study "Radar Social Cohesion". Since 2012, the study has shown how social cohesion is perceived. In comparison with the most recent previous study in 2017, cohesion in Germany is stable. "Even if many citizens are worried about togetherness," says study author Kai Unzicker, it is "overall still robust".
In the first wave, more than 3000 people were interviewed, the researchers differentiating between interviews before March 3 and after. Because this point in time, according to the researchers, was before the hard corona restrictions, but was already characterized by uncertainty. 1000 people were called again by the respondents in May and June. And it was found that 51 percent and 41 percent of those surveyed rated cohesion better than before after more than two months of the corona crisis:
"In a crisis situation, many have experienced real solidarity that there is neighborhood help with shopping or childcare," says study author Unzicker. As long as there was no emergency, the individual looked pessimistic at what might be coming - and then realized: it's not that bad at all. "Stories of decline, as they are often reproduced by some political actors, did not correspond to perceived reality."
But this narrative doesn't apply to everyone. Admittedly, the pandemic and its restrictions left hardly anyone unaffected. According to the study, however, there are groups that are more pessimistic about the crisis and feel less social cohesion: poorer and less educated people, single parents and people with a migration background. They were already restricted before the corona crisis, now they suffer even more.
"Someone who is well educated and has a high income has the opportunity to work from home," says Unzicker. "People with less education and lower incomes, on the other hand, are more often on short-time work and are threatened with job loss, and fears are growing." Those who already knew a high level of solidarity before the crisis, on the other hand, felt less lonely in recent months - and had fewer worries about their own future or that of their families.
According to Unzicker, politics should therefore pay more attention to particularly affected groups. It would have to be addressed to those who feel little cohesion and report of a poorer supply of social infrastructure. "It's about more support in the city districts to be able to react locally to the adversities of these people's lives." If, for example, the situation in childcare or school lessons does not improve significantly in the foreseeable future, the researcher is certain that those who are already disadvantaged will suffer again.
Bertelsmann Study: Social Cohesion
Who did the studyArrow up arrow down
The study "Social cohesion in Germany 2020. A challenge for all of us. Results of a representative population study" is part of the long-term study "Radar social cohesion", which has been collected at regular intervals since 2012. It was collected by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the social research institute Infas.
How was the data collected? Up arrow Down arrow
For the study, the Infas survey institute interviewed a total of 3,010 people aged 16 and over by telephone in February and March - 1,667 interviews before March 3, 1,343 afterwards. The researchers say that they share the results at this point, as the date is a bit before tougher restrictions, but was already characterized by uncertainty. In May and June 1000 of the respondents were interviewed again. The interview in spring lasted an average of 30 minutes, the second in May and June an average of twelve minutes.
How meaningful are the results? Up arrow Down arrow
The partially weighted study results provide a picture of the perception of cohesion and other moods in the population. The researchers define cohesion as the "quality of communal coexistence in a specific community". The concept has nine different dimensions: social networks, trust in fellow human beings, acceptance of diversity, identification, trust in institutions, sense of justice, solidarity and helpfulness, recognition of social rules and participation in society. The nine dimensions are measured using a total of 36 individual indicators.
Surprisingly, according to the study, the fear of economic decline has also decreased compared to the initial phase of the pandemic in Germany. In February, more than half of those questioned were worried about being or becoming poor themselves, compared to 47 percent in early summer. The fear of unemployment has also decreased significantly, from 44 percent to 31 percent. People in Germany are also a little less worried about an economic and financial crisis (63 instead of 68 percent). Unzicker explains this changed mood with the public easing debate: "Contact restrictions were lifted and it was discussed where you can go on vacation again."
Apparently there was relief that Germany has come through the crisis so well. The question is whether this can be permanent in view of the increasing number of infections.
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