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...

Moving to the country by the affluent and leaving cities to the poor. Large increase in second home purchase in coastal and rural areas....no stamp duty fuelled this
More homeworking.
Bigger divide in society.

@Donoteatthekittens

frozendaisy - Not everybody can be a robot developer or work in AI. People with no qualifications or low academic ability will struggle.

Robot developers still like to eat out I imagine, or go to the theatre. High tech environments need to be clean, dust free.

You can create doom and gloom problems if you want but the world is changing and this pandemic might have just accelerated that. So move with the times or get left behind.

We are teaching our children there will always be new problems to solve, look forwards not back and certainly don't stand still.

We could sit here saying "oh it's awful there won't be any jobs for you what's the point" but I fail to see how that will help.

But each to their own.

Less checkouts in supermarkets and even more click and collect and home delivery services. There will be low-paid job creation in this sector.

Potential uni students being more selective about choosing courses that set them on a path to a recession-proof industry - take up for humanities and arts courses will be low. There wont be a uni experience for young people, more compressed two year courses done from home, OU style.

Very short term - more pets, bought at the height of lockdown, will be dumped in shelters once people can take holidays again and don't want to be tied down with a dog.

I don't believe Labour have any hope in the next election; the Tories will easily win, but perhaps with Sunak as PM.

frozendaisy - I’ve read a lot of about AI and the “rise of the robots” and it’s just my opinion about what will happen.

Delivery drivers will be obsolete when vehicles become self-driving.

Delivery drivers will be obsolete when vehicles become self-driving.

What about the delivery of a sofa or a washing machine ?

I love the cute amazon delivery robots, but they have their limits

I’m back in New Zealand which is pretty much Covid free after spending the whole last year in the Covid-zone and find it interesting and sometimes hard to readjust. Main things I’ve found are:

• avoiding busy places now. I went to a busy pub and found it far too overwhelming so now find myself avoiding places with lots of people

• Wearing MORE lipstick than before because my lips aren’t under a mask anymore and I love wearing it again

• I’m much happier spending time at home than before and far less inclined to ‘get the kids out of the house’ - for all our moaning we really have learned to entertain ourselves at home more

• much more of a desire to spend time with my nearest and dearest but much less tolerance for people I don’t know well and casual chit chat

• I wasn’t massively introverted before but I think I am now

In short now I’m not living somewhere with Covid anymore I’m realising it all affected me more than I gave it credit for at the time

@Donoteatthekittens

frozendaisy - Not everybody can be a robot developer or work in AI. People with no qualifications or low academic ability will struggle.

I have lived in societies with ridiculously large gaps between the qualified and the unqualified. The unqualified collect and deliver goods, bring stuff to you, clean you clothes and cook your meals. As the economic gap increases, those who can get paid more, and those who cannot get dramatically more appreciation for the value they bring to those who do not need to get out of their car to fill up at the gas station, have a bottle of water brought to their door, whatever. I would think nothing of giving out £50 a day on tips, or contributing £50 to an office boy's holiday whip round. People appreciate value, and when society pays the people at the top disproportionately to the people at the bottom, those people do not hold back on paying for the value others bring to them.

Having seen how stingy some Brits are with tips, maybe the poorly educated have a right to be question the generosity of people they provide service to.

I haven't started tipping Amazon and Tesco drivers yet, but if this continues through the summer, I may well start.

@Donoteatthekittens

frozendaisy - I’ve read a lot of about AI and the “rise of the robots” and it’s just my opinion about what will happen.

Delivery drivers will be obsolete when vehicles become self-driving.

I was thinking ocado online warehouse not terminator!

Basically people will still be needed from all walks of life and academic ability. That's all I was trying to say.

For all the people who believe robots will take over the world - Robots need people to programme them, service them, maintain them and repair them. They have to be monitored constantly, and overridden and interacted with on the fly. These are all jobs humans do.

Regardless, if we know where we are likely to be headed, we only need to position ourselves for what we intend to do should that be where we end up. You may well end up jobless and penniless if you cannot function in robot managed future world, but you cannot pretend you didn't know it might happen and didn't have time to plan ahead.

I agree with some of the things in the OP. I have no desire to return to the gym, we bought some excellent home exercise bits during the first lockdown. Definitely yes to dressing more comfy. I've finally got out of the horrible habit of feeling like I must wear makeup outside of the house and have perfect hair. We've also been eating more elaborate meals at home so don't think eating out for about 3 times the price will be a very appealing option anymore. We've genuinely had some meals at home that have been nicer than we've eaten at some of our favourite restaurants. We've also decided to stop all the crazy running around on weekends to fill time. The kids (and we) have enjoyed a more laid back routine.

Still really looking forward to some things though. Can't wait to spend a weekend afternoon with family or take the kids to the trampoline park/cinema etc.

Basically people will still be needed from all walks of life and academic ability. That's all I was trying to say.
Yes this.

China is much farther along this road that the west, but they have a large deficit in their education system. They cannot find creative minds with the talent or insight to move innovation forward, at the rate at which the desire.

Whilst we seemingly have no end of creative ability, but do not have a workforce willing to implement those ideas in a manner that allows it to be brought to market.

Both countries have deficiencies in their education systems and job markets.

On a macro level, I see a rebalancing of the values in the world economy. A huge shift in wealth and expertise from West to East. The whole of society will have to learn to live and operate poorer and stop living off of the poverty and hard work of other nations. A great depression with level the playing field, and people will discover the true market value of their skills and expertise.

Haha decadence?! Maybe for a while, until the government works out how they'll deal with the unprecedented level of debt we're in due to what the last year's cost us, and then we'll all be too skint to have any decadence. I'm afraid that when the finances come home to roost it's not going to be pretty - it'll have to be paid for somehow

I'm really hoping return to things like amateur orchestras, especially for children, will return rapidly.

More home working, for sure. Companies will have realised that it's easier and cheaper to have their teams working from home where possible. My mum's company have announced that everyone will have the option of working from home most days, with a meeting once a week in person to keep the team together. She's over the moon with this, as she had a long commute.

I also think the way people socialise will change. People have got out of the habit of going to pubs and restaurants. I think - when allowed - more people will socialise at home.

I have a vision of the future where the elite live in gated communities and the rest of us are left scrabbling around in the dust for food. Oh and climate change disasters probably mean humans only have a limited time left.

Had we just had one lockdown I think the climate and environment would have benefited Hugely

Now I think everyone’s going to travel as much as possible and see as much as possible.

I would think nothing of giving out £50 a day on tips, or contributing £50 to an office boy's holiday whip round.

Office boy = man on work experience at your office? It's a massive cultural difference - people see holidays as something you save and pay for yourself so Office colleagues wouldn't co tribute.

£50 on tips. Who are you tipping in a day? Even if you bought food and took a taxi how much would you tip and what kind of people are you tipping? £50 per day = £1500 per month. How much are you paid if £1500pm on tips is ok? Do you tip because there's no minimum wage in your country?

Having seen how stingy some Brits are with tips, maybe the poorly educated have a right to be question the generosity of people they provide service to.

The rules on tipping are very vague here. There's no rules like in the US where there's a suggested percentage plus many restaurants add a service charge anyway. I leave tips at restaurants and the hairdressers but apart from that I'd only consider tipping removal men which isn't a regular occurrence really.

@ReadWritePlay

I’m back in New Zealand which is pretty much Covid free after spending the whole last year in the Covid-zone and find it interesting and sometimes hard to readjust. Main things I’ve found are:

• avoiding busy places now. I went to a busy pub and found it far too overwhelming so now find myself avoiding places with lots of people

• Wearing MORE lipstick than before because my lips aren’t under a mask anymore and I love wearing it again

• I’m much happier spending time at home than before and far less inclined to ‘get the kids out of the house’ - for all our moaning we really have learned to entertain ourselves at home more

• much more of a desire to spend time with my nearest and dearest but much less tolerance for people I don’t know well and casual chit chat

• I wasn’t massively introverted before but I think I am now

That's how we all were when first out of lockdown, the sensory overload was exhausting. You might find it lifts a little.

@Donoteatthekittens

I have a vision of the future where the elite live in gated communities and the rest of us are left scrabbling around in the dust for food. Oh and climate change disasters probably mean humans only have a limited time left.

California?

@ReadWritePlay - that really interesting how it has moved you to a more introverted place.

Does anyone think a Universal Basic Income is likely to emerge in the coming years?

I personally don't like working at home (maybe because I don't have a designated room) and I prefer office life (the banter and networking) but I can't quite see myself in an office environment now. I find that a little sad. I made loads of good friends in offices over the years.

@jewel1968 yeah I've been feeling sad about no longer working in an office and as well as actually speaking to people in person the little things that go with going out to work every day- putting on make up/jewellery, choosing what to wear -am in pyjama bottoms/comfy trousers 90% of the time these days.

[quote jewel1968]@ReadWritePlay - that really interesting how it has moved you to a more introverted place.

Does anyone think a Universal Basic Income is likely to emerge in the coming years?

I personally don't like working at home (maybe because I don't have a designated room) and I prefer office life (the banter and networking) but I can't quite see myself in an office environment now. I find that a little sad. I made loads of good friends in offices over the years.[/quote]
I do think UBI will come along, but I think it will be like America's New Deal, and come on the back of the most horrendous depression, lost of work and poverty. The debt has to be extinguished, and you can only do that through taxation, inflation or economic growth coupled with austerity. So I think we will be plunged into depression all around the world, and then the system will be reset and we will all be offered UBIs.

I don’t think we will be going back to normal for many many years to come. Unless everyone in the world is vaccinated regularly, we will continue to have mutations of the virus. We have to ensure that the people in less developed countries regularly get vaccinated because this is where virus mutations will come from. It is therefore important that the wealthier countries are involved in providing affordable vaccines that are easily transported to these other countries.It is far too simplistic to assume that just because most people in uk will be vaccinated by Autumn, we will be ok.