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...

Glastonbury will 100% happen again. I only managed to get tickets once and it was one of the best (long) weekends of my life. Truly a bucket list experience.

@CatsNotDogs

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.

Why on Earth not?

I’m worried that women will be set back in the workplace and gender inequality will increase.

I hope that online schooling will be continued for those students it suits better than in-person school.

I hope hand shaking never comes back.
No presenteeism when you're ill.

God I think the roaring thing 100%. I’m never taking going out for granted again. Life is MISERABLE. I will never be in. I have young kids so life is different but I’ll be hitting every softplay, every cafe, every kids museum. I’ll be sending my kids to as many activities as I can afford. I cannot wait to throw my children at Grandma & go out for dinner. Hell, I think I’ll even swing a weekend away! I’ll be on a plane faster than anything. I am going to live & I am going to bloody enjoy it. I can’t wait to go to a Christmas market & stand in a massive crowd & just soak up the atmosphere.

Roll on the vaccines.

I can certainly see employers being reluctant to take on "unhealthy" staff, such as those who are grossly overweight or who otherwise may be considered "vulnerable". I think Covid is really highlighted various "at risk" groups and employers won't want to take the risk of having lots of staff having to stay at home again if Covid isn't controlled or there's another pandemic.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

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.

Totally agree with this. I much prefer phone / email / zoom consultations - appropriate for 80% of stuff we've ever needed the GP for. And then face to face appointments can be prioritised according to need

I do hope some positive social change happens but I do fear ingrained poverty will happen.

Some people say we will return to normal soon enough which reminds me of some graffiti the BBC reported on in Wuhan 'Normal was the problem'.

Ps. Flexible home working yes. My employer has offered it already for the future. Contracts are being changed to two days a week in the office, the rest as you choose. Home or office.

More wfh, less handshaking, more doctors appointments by phone.

Those who have the money to do so will launch back into restaurants, concerts, holidays abroad, gyms and so on. But there will be many more people than before who can’t afford any of that.

I hope that working from home becomes more accepted for people who want it and have no real need to commute into an office.
Also hope that the changes to the health system stay. Our surgery has been great, you can submit a request online explaining your symptoms, get a phone call back the same day. Then they can either prescribe over the phone, to be collected straight from your chosen chemist, or make a face to face appointment if that is needed. Much better than sitting around in waiting rooms full of germs to speak to a doctor.

I am not saying any of these are desirable.
What I do so is....
Greater segregation between those who have and those who do not.
A larger spread between the capable and the incapable in our education output - The knock on effect will be greater divergence between those who have and those who do not.
A system on annual or bi-annual injections for the majority.
Restrictions and the building of pariah status for those who refuse to vaccinate.
Adoption of cleanliness in day to day life where previously there was none.
A genuine disgust at people who cough or sneeze, and people who spit when they talk.
Greater adoption of home learning - Those who thrive will become successful, as they will discover an ability to work in isolation with self-motivation. Those who do not thrive will will find themselves sliding down the socio-economic spectrum.
A move away from high street retail shopping - a shift towards industrial warehouses rather than large retail outlets.
A move towards providing home office spaces in newbuild homes - instead of labelling the box room as a third bedroom, these will now be dressed and sold as office space.
Increases in fuel duty - with fewer private vehicles on the road, road taxation will be collected from haulage companies through fuel duty, and passed along to the buyer in prices.

The big ones....

I see a readjustment in the value of real things against currency - inflation - a very serious level of inflation over the next decade. A lot of people who continue to get paid what they get paid, or get pay rises I thing are going to get a lot poorer. We have printed trillions of GBP over the past 10 years and that has to be paid back in the form of depreciation in the value of the GBP at some point. I see that happening before the end of the decade.

I see major unemployment as the country adjusts to the shifting workload, and staff discover that they are no longer required and are challenged to provide value to the market they no longer recognise.

I see increases in crime as those who traditionally have poor access to work seek to lay claim to the resources they need to feed families, stake claim to territories, or need to feed habits.

I think we are going to see the biggest depression in recorded history, with everything that comes along with it. It will be worldwide. We will see it on our televisions first and think ourselves lucky that it is not happening where we are, but we will watch it spread and most people will burry their heads in the sand and pretend it is not happening.

When everything settles down, if you have done nothing but keep your job and your home and your health, you will probably have outperformed 50% of the population.

I hope I am wrong on everything.

@ElliFAntspoo

I am not saying any of these are desirable. What I do so is.... Greater segregation between those who have and those who do not. A larger spread between the capable and the incapable in our education output - The knock on effect will be greater divergence between those who have and those who do not. A system on annual or bi-annual injections for the majority. Restrictions and the building of pariah status for those who refuse to vaccinate. Adoption of cleanliness in day to day life where previously there was none. A genuine disgust at people who cough or sneeze, and people who spit when they talk. Greater adoption of home learning - Those who thrive will become successful, as they will discover an ability to work in isolation with self-motivation. Those who do not thrive will will find themselves sliding down the socio-economic spectrum. A move away from high street retail shopping - a shift towards industrial warehouses rather than large retail outlets. A move towards providing home office spaces in newbuild homes - instead of labelling the box room as a third bedroom, these will now be dressed and sold as office space. Increases in fuel duty - with fewer private vehicles on the road, road taxation will be collected from haulage companies through fuel duty, and passed along to the buyer in prices.

The big ones....

I see a readjustment in the value of real things against currency - inflation - a very serious level of inflation over the next decade. A lot of people who continue to get paid what they get paid, or get pay rises I thing are going to get a lot poorer. We have printed trillions of GBP over the past 10 years and that has to be paid back in the form of depreciation in the value of the GBP at some point. I see that happening before the end of the decade.

I see major unemployment as the country adjusts to the shifting workload, and staff discover that they are no longer required and are challenged to provide value to the market they no longer recognise.

I see increases in crime as those who traditionally have poor access to work seek to lay claim to the resources they need to feed families, stake claim to territories, or need to feed habits.

I think we are going to see the biggest depression in recorded history, with everything that comes along with it. It will be worldwide. We will see it on our televisions first and think ourselves lucky that it is not happening where we are, but we will watch it spread and most people will burry their heads in the sand and pretend it is not happening.

When everything settles down, if you have done nothing but keep your job and your home and your health, you will probably have outperformed 50% of the population.

I hope I am wrong on everything.

People will go apeshit at posts like this as they don't want to hear it, but I agree 100%. I also desperately hope I'm wrong.

@ElliFAntspoo I sincerely hope you are wrong but this is my fear as well. So many industries aren't financially viable with social distancing in place- and with SAGE advisors are saying we'll need to do this for at least another year- so I dread to think of what is to come in terms of unemployment and poverty.

It's the same with increased WFH- why would businesses continue to rent office space for people only coming in once or twice a week? I wonder if this will eventually lead to more buildings being converted into 'WeWork' style spaces where companies will rent a floor(s) to get people together once a week/month or so. I do wonder what will happen to city centres if WFH continues permanently and all the businesses that rely on office workers for footfall e.g. will people really commute into a city centre for a drink after work at 6pm?

I worry about younger people forming relationships/making friends when WFH- a lot of people meet at work and it's just not the same having Zoom drinks.

Definitely see online school being offered for children too ill to physically go to school but well enough to do work. DD is off for two weeks (no lockdown in my country) for surgery and her teacher has said she can join in the lessons virtually via teams when she feels up to it - definitely not a thing that would have been offered before.

Working from home will become more commonplace but I expect it'll become more of a mix, so for example people will work a certain percentage of the time at home and the rest at the office, as people do need the social interaction too.

A change I hope for, is that people will think twice before going into work or school or going shopping with they are ill.

Short term (1-2 years) A few minor things - wearing masks, wfh more often, some lavish but largely pointless vanity projects for the NHS.

Long term (3 years time): nothing. “Ha, remember that time when we all wore masks and couldn’t go on holiday”.

Humans have very short memories.

I think that for me, a lot is going to change and maybe take a while or never go back to some things.

I cant see the high street ever being the same again. Also I'm not sure I will spend as much on non essentials. I'm getting used to making lists of things that arent easy to buy online for when the shops open again.

I need a new TV, but because we cant go and look at them, I bought a used one off marketplace and will take my chances with how long it lasts for.

I'm thinking so much more about weather i REALLY need the kids or me to have so many clothes. If it really matters if its replaced before it's totally outgrown. It will be at least a year of modified behaviours and thinking. I'm not convinced ced I will snap back into my old lifestyle

We have four years of a Tory government to go so it will be pretty grim and they'll use it as an excuse to enact a lot more of their ideology; lots of poverty, workers rights slashed, cuts in public spending, redistribution of wealth towards the wealthy, etc.

At least after WW2 the country didn't generally vote against their own self interest and we got the NHS and Welfare state from it.

@sally067 I so hope you are wrong but fear you are right!

Lots more people will have booked holidays in the U.K. this year. If it’s a hot year this year, I think a lot might do the same next year. If it’s a rainy one, it’ll have the opposite effect.

IMO on line parents' evenings will continue and for the good; parents not needing to go out in the rain, find a parking space, miss the football etc.

@PusheenLove I'm with you, but the reality will be more like @DenisetheMenace says and people will go back to looking down their noses at these workers.
Very quickly normal service will resume with pubs restaurants, nightclubs being packed and the skies and foreign beaches full of holidaymakers.

I think we will generally bounce back quite quickly to the “old normal”.

However some things might stay, eg more home working, we just had an insurance claim and the assessment was all done by photo, likewise I bought a car and it was all done contactless including the trade in, I really hope the culture of presenteeism and people forcing themselves into work when sick will stop but should be accompanied by decent sick pay

I hate masks and being at home etc but every winter I have chest infections and nasty bugs and this year I have had none , interesting

[quote areyoumeop]**@PusheenLove* I'm with you, but the reality will be more like @DenisetheMenace* says and people will go back to looking down their noses at these workers.
Very quickly normal service will resume with pubs restaurants, nightclubs being packed and the skies and foreign beaches full of holidaymakers.[/quote]
I think so too

@Kazzyhoward

I can certainly see employers being reluctant to take on "unhealthy" staff, such as those who are grossly overweight or who otherwise may be considered "vulnerable". I think Covid is really highlighted various "at risk" groups and employers won't want to take the risk of having lots of staff having to stay at home again if Covid isn't controlled or there's another pandemic.

At least disabled people are protected in law so hopefully not. However I am a fat person who is amazing at my job, I’ve never been discriminated against so far and never off sick but who knows how I will be seen in future :(