It’s probably the understatement of the century to say that things have changed pretty bloody quickly over the past month or so. The coronavirus pandemic has shifted our priorities and re-shaped our ways of life in a big ass hurry, forcing us all into a bold new normal where we all have to limit where we go, what we do, who we see, and what we worry about. All that in the name of a greater good for everyone.
But while it’s easy enough to point to your own life and house to see what’s changed, it’s another thing entirely to appreciate the enormous scale of what’s going on right now.
So we, being the curious lot, asked you all how’s it garn. And a lot of you answered. A whole damn lot of you.
On April 2nd, PEDESTRIAN.TV helped launch a massive reader survey across Pedestrian Group – that includes Business Insider Australia, POPSUGAR, Kotaku, Gizmodo, and Lifehacker – aimed at finding out what you all what was on your mind during these unprecedented times. Within four days, we’d had a heavingly massive 10,300+ responses, with well over half of that field coming from people aged between 18 and 34.
With findings from the survey released today, we can now share with you some of the super interesting things we learned.
Most importantly, we found out that the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t affecting everyone the same way, and that you all have different and specific worries based on a number of factors, including health, employment, and family statuses.
Significantly, the pandemic has (for obvious reasons) triggered a massive shift in priorities. In a reader survey conducted just seven months ago, 50% of respondents stated their biggest worry was climate change and the environment. In April 2020, that has dropped down to just 14%, with 60% of readers now most worried about the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis (including unemployment). A further 17% said they were most worried about the health impact of COVID-19.
But in good news, it looks like you all are doing your part to help get everyone through this historic time. Over 97% of people are following the Government mandates to self-isolate. That’s great! You bloody legends! Love all your work!
As far as what’s happening inside the house goes, and though you wouldn’t think it from reading your average social media feed, it turns out the pandemic is actually making you all far less horny than you might think.
Well over half of responders – 53% to be exact – rated their isolation sex drive at a 5/10 or lower. 26% of women claimed there were having less sex during the pandemic, while 22% of men said the same thing. There’s probably a pretty obvious reason for that, you’d say. But even still, 12% of responders said they were actually using dating apps much less during isolation than what they were before. Of course those of you who still have the horn are finding novel ways to deal with it: 20% of responders said they were masturbating more during right now. Party for one, pals.
Understandably, a lot of you are worried about your jobs right now, and a lot of you have already been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. 19% of people who responded to the survey had lost their jobs as a direct result of COVID-19. Worryingly, the survey results found that women were 25% more likely to have lost their jobs due to the pandemic than males. That’s a shocking statistic by anyone’s estimation.
Some of the individual responses we got in the survey make it pretty clear what you all are missing about everyday life under pandemic conditions. One person said she was missing “her boyfriend” who “lives with his grandparents, so we can’t risk it.” Another stated that they missed “working out at the gym” because there are “zero gains in iso.” Other responses ranged from missing “hugging family and friends,” to “being able to travel and plan to travel,” to even “team sports” because “life sucks without footy.”
But perhaps summing it all up best was one respondent – a sage lad named Callum – who said the thing he missed the most in lockdown was “freedom in general….. and the pub.”
I reckon that’s a sentiment we can all get behind.
