How COVID-19 has changed Victorian lives
The financial hit on Victorian households and the changes to our lives have been laid bare in an exclusive Herald Sun survey. And as the second wave bites hard, it can be revealed Victorians feel the most isolated and stressed of any Australians.
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The financial hit on Victorian households and the changes to our lives have been laid bare in an exclusive Herald Sun survey.
Victorians feel the most isolated and stressed of any Australians, but they report that more time with family and less time spent commuting have been a bonus.
And as the second wave bites hard, a third of us want stricter lockdowns.
The YouGov survey — commissioned by the Herald Sun and its sister newspapers around the country — shows 35 per cent of Victorians surveyed regarded the state’s restrictions too lenient. But 10 per cent branded them too tough.
YouGov head of polling Dr Campbell White said Victoria’s soaring number of cases was likely to be behind so many people wanting restrictions to go further.
Younger generations were more likely to say current restrictions were too tough, but most still supported them.
Country people were more supportive of a stronger clampdown than those in the city.
“Victoria is going through it tougher than any other state at the moment,’’ Dr White said.
“There certainly doesn’t seem to be much of an appetite for relaxing restrictions like the United States, where people are rebelling.”
More than 2300 adults — 500 of them from Victoria — took part in the survey.
A troubling 37 per cent of Victorian households were worse off financially because of COVID-19, more than in any other state. Ten per cent of those affected were at least $1000 a month out of pocket.
A fifth reckoned it would take at least a year for their household finances to recover. Some believed their incomes would never fully return.
Just over a third of Victorians blamed irresponsible people not social-distancing for the pandemic, while a fifth pointed the finger at China for not being open about coronavirus until it spread.
Almost half said both were equally to blame while about two in five confessed to breaking social-distancing rules in the last three months by shaking someone’s hand.
The analysis uncovered a massive shift at work, with 15 per cent of Victorians saying they’d lost their job and 28 per cent working fewer hours. Those in part-time jobs, often younger, were hardest hit.
Statewide, half of people surveyed felt stressed and almost as many felt isolated. About 40 per cent felt helpless and fearful.
Separation from friends and relations had been the worst thing about the lockdown, but stress at home had been much higher for parents.
Dr White said Gen Z, typically aged 18-24, and the Silent Generation, born before and during World War II, tended to feel the most isolated.
“It’s actually the oldest and the youngest people who use the word ‘isolated’,’’ he said.
“For younger people, their social life is really important — it’s that time of your life where it’s much more important to get out with your friends and socialise. The isolation is more keenly felt for those people.
“And people in their 70s or 80s have been told they should stay away from grandchildren for their health. It makes sense too that they would be feeling especially isolated.”
More time with family including children, partners and pets had been the best thing about lockdown for almost 40 per cent of Victorians.
A quarter of people statewide believed they’d spend more time working from home when the pandemic was over and about 10 per cent believed they would never return to their workplace.
The survey was completed between July 15-20, after our second lockdown started.