What social change do you think COVID will trigger?

[jewel1968]

I have been pondering this for a while and as we spend more time in lockdown I wonder what the long term social impacts will be. Some are fairly obvious but I am wondering what else might occur. For me I think when we finally get to the other side of this pandemic I can see some changes, such as:

• lots more home working where infrastructure allows
• more people continuing to exercise at home or in the park and gyms not so attractive
• fashion changes with people more focused on comfort e.g. high heels go out of favour
• perhaps an impact on how we look after children
• if schools perfect online learning we might see it used in some circumstances e.g. When kids are too sick to travel to school but could work from home
• a change in how we test kids e.g. might we move away from exams

I know some social scientists think we might enter a decadent period similar to the roaring twenties.

Interested in your thoughts...

I think people will make more of an effort to see the ones they love and realise that time spent together is precious and not to be taken for granted

The impact on international travel could be interesting.

Also the culture of eating out could change as people have got out of the habit. Though I think there’ll be a bit of a boom to start with as everyone wants to be in a restaurant again.

People will possibly think more about how far they live from relatives.

High powered careers could be less London centric with hone working.

I don’t think the high street will ever really be the same again. I’m not sure what will happen to big shopping malls as lots of retail hasn’t survived

More respect for the "low skilled"

Hand sanitisation will be integrated into almost every environment and become norm.

I’m expecting more space between colleagues in the office. We’re only planning to bring staff back in twice a week from October, so 3 days wfh. It means we’ll cut half of the office footprint, so lots of hot desking. I’m curious to see what my usual commute on rammed trains and tube will look like.

Glad to do away with social cheek kisses, drives me a bit potty.

Also, I’m hoping we don’t go back to weekends full of kids’ lessons and kids’ birthday parties. It’s only now that there’s nothing to do, I’ve realised how ridiculously busy our weekends used to be!!

I’m excited to have bbqs and parties are home. Actually at someone else’s home. Bored of mine 😂

Also reconsidering holidays abroad. I think we’ll have 1 or 2 holidays abroad a year and more local mini breaks. I’ve already booked skiing for next year during the school term and will feel none of the guilt about missing school. We’re doing well with homeschooling, so if it’s fine for me to do that for months and months on end, then a week of holiday seems reasonable. Wonder if other parents will do the same now.

Ah now I think high heels and formal dress will have a massive comeback as a reaction to all the casual wear.
I also think there will be a Roaring Twenties effect.
I think home working will become more common because a lot of the resistance to it was irrational. Business travel will decline, but it won’t disappear.

Masks on aeroplanes, masks on public transport and in crowded places, regular hand sanitising, some people ordering takeaway instead of going to eat in restaurants

I'm hoping that working flexibly at your normal job while travelling or even living outside the UK will become possible, and countries might introduce a visa that allows for that.

I'd like to do more "slow travel", for example going by train to Europe, or spending a few weeks or even months in a different country. It would be amazing if I could do that and work at the same time!

Yes to the decadent 20's

I'm seriously going to go out as much as possible, invite people over, go to pubs, join things

I never really went out much but I am SICK of staying in

Less business travel now we have learnt to use zoom effectively.

Young people more likely to go into safe professions like teaching, healthcare etc that were previously finding it hard to recruit.

I think gps offering online appointments as well as face to face will become the norm. It never made sense to drag sick people who should be in bed to a waiting room where they can infect everyone else.

No more blowing out birthday cake candles - in fact a cultural change to all types of others people's bodies!

Well after reading the thread about the amount of people who don't wash their hands after going to the toilet, I won't be shaking anyone's hand ever again.

I think long term you’ll be surprised how little changes.

Short term I am fully expecting- and looking forward to- a very generally hedonistic few years - a sort of “roaring 20s” I suppose.

I have a 4yo - but am also single- so already wondering how to butter up grandma for extra babysitting so I can join the party

Sorry to be negative but I can't see massive open air events like Glastonbury coming back. Ever. Or if they do, probably a third of the crowds we used to see. No jam packed fields or arenas etc.

I think there might be a real boom.
Everyone I know wants to go out and experience things.
Obviously not some MNers who basically love being home and not interacting - but most ordinary folk.

So a real joyful ness instead of the crabby faux ennui that’s been popular.

PusheenLove

More respect for the "low skilled".

This, tenfold.

Low skilled? I wouldn’t have the faintest idea where to begin looking after someone with dementia (and if I’m brutally honest, I wouldn’t want to). My cleaning skills would be sorely tested if I were to be judged by hospital standards with people’s lives depending on them. I couldn’t work for hours on end at minimum wage taking abuse from the public in any number of vital public service (and private sector) jobs without losing my rag and being sacked after telling someone exactly what they could do with their unreasonable complaint.
I hope society will remember how all of these supposedly “low-skilled” workers kept a lot of us more comfortable working from home people going and how much we relied on them.
Sadly, I think things will quickly return to the status quo.

I think big things like Glastonbury will be back in the next few years with a Big Bang and people will have mostly moved on from all of this, big crowds will happen again, they always have.

Sorry to be negative but I can't see massive open air events like Glastonbury coming back. Ever. Or if they do, probably a third of the crowds we used to see. No jam packed fields or arenas etc.

But why not? Surely once pretty much everyone's been vaccinated it will be fine again, I don't get the long term gloom?

Disagree with a lot of what you said.

After spending so much time at home and not socialising, people will want to go out as much as possible. That includes dressing up more (rather than stick to comfortable clothes), going back to the gym and so on.

Kids are better in school because again socialising is also part of learning.

Homeworking will be one of the main thing that will stay because for many people it gives a better work/life balance.

People have short memories, the minute it is possible to travel and party again they will be off to foreign holidays and events...

Why no open air events?
Other countries are having them now.
My DD called a mate in Oz by accident and she was in a nightclub 😂😂😂

I would hope that there is a change in the attitude of some office managers to sick people coming to work. I had a manager once who was late to work because he had to keep pulling his car over to throw up he was so convinced the place would fall apart without him. So I’d hope it might (for jobs where it’s possible) be seen as more acceptable to say that you’re it’ll not feeling great and will wfh.

However, given how many people are still being forced into the office now, I doubt it. But it might kick off that sort of change against presenteeism in larger companies and maybe that will filter through.

And for the doom and gloom lot who claims that concerts and big events won't happen. These type of events are happening right now in countries that have managed to control their outbreaks. No need to be endlessly pessimistic about things...

I'm hoping that emphasis on people's mental health and well-being will be a long term thing.

I will be dressing up and partying like it's 1929. I cannot wait to be allowed to have a messy drunken night with friends, go out for long Sunday lunches, have dinner parties and work in an office again.