The pandemic has posed challenges for everyone. Has the corona crisis harmed solidarity in society? No, according to a study, on the contrary. But there are also shadows.
Gütersloh (dpa) - According to a study, social cohesion has proven to be robust during the Corona crisis and has even grown after the outbreak of the pandemic.
At the same time, however, social differences have also become more visible in the exceptional situation. This is the result of a representative survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation published on Wednesday.
For the "Social Cohesion Radar 2020", 3010 people aged 16 and over were interviewed from the beginning of February to the end of March. And 1000 of them again from the end of May to mid-June - after the end of the strict contact restrictions. According to this, people in Germany rated social cohesion after the first peak of the corona pandemic in early summer more positively than at the beginning of the year. And compared to the previous study from 2017, cohesion has proven to be stable.
Specifically, in February, i.e. before the start of the lockdown in Germany, 46 percent of those questioned saw cohesion as endangered. In March, when schools and daycare centers across Germany were closed and public life was severely restricted, according to the foundation it was 40 percent - in May and June only 36 percent. In February, 41 percent thought that citizens did not care about their fellow human beings; in May and June only 21 percent were of this opinion. In addition, trust in the federal government has grown - from 19 percent initially to 45 percent, it said.
Many citizens are apparently relieved that the pandemic has so far been mild in their eyes, said study author Kai Unzicker. "At the same time, the majority of them experienced great solidarity and consideration." There was an upswing in the general mood.
Measured on a scale from 0 (low) to 100 (high), the average values for the western German federal states rose slightly from 60 (2017) to currently 62 points, in eastern Germany - including Berlin - remained unchanged at 58 points.
But there are also shadows: "Corona allows existing faults to emerge more clearly," the survey concluded. There are social groups that experience cohesion much weaker - including citizens with less education, less stable financial circumstances, also single people, single parents and people with a migration background. This group also has a comparatively greater fear of the future.
"For those who were previously disadvantaged, the situation in the crisis is even more difficult," said Unzicker. Overall, in the first half of 2020, citizens' concerns would have tended to decrease despite the pandemic and the looming economic crisis. According to the survey, the fear of becoming poor or unemployed decreased between February and June.
Surprising from the perspective of the study authors: supporters of the Greens, Union, SPD and FDP rate the cohesion much more positively than supporters of the Left Party and especially the AfD as well as politically unrelated people.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200812-99-135022 / 2
