Berlin/Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) – It is an alarming finding: more than half of the people in Baden-Württemberg believe that people do not take care of their fellow human beings. That was a little different before the corona pandemic in 2019, when 37 percent shared this view. It is a highlight of an investigation by the Bertelsmann Foundation, which dealt with cohesion in the southwest. “It was dog years for a large part of the population,” said Kai Unzicker from the foundation on Friday at the presentation of the study in the state representation in Berlin.
Above all, poorer people, the unemployed, the chronically ill and people with foreign roots are aware of these declining ties. The biggest losers of the pandemic were children and young people. Another finding: Confidence in politics and identification with the state of Baden-Württemberg have fallen significantly. Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) called the results of the study “crass”, Baden-Württemberg’s Social Affairs Minister Manne Lucha (Greens) insisted on greater financial support for the disadvantaged.
Risk yes – division of society not yet
Between 2019 and 2022, the value for cohesion fell from 64 to 54 on a scale of 0 to 100. “We have never been able to record such a decline as we are now in the pandemic,” said Unzicker, but also made it clear: “This is not yet a division in society.” nothing breaks yet”. He pointed out that people were interviewed between the beginning of December and the beginning of January – and thus in the middle of the fourth corona wave.
Above all, social relationships in their own neighborhoods have suffered during the pandemic. Three years ago, 80 percent said that the community in their neighborhood was good, now it was only 47 percent. “Interpersonal trust has decreased,” said Professor Klaus Boehnke from the Jacobs University in Bremen. In 2019, 46 percent of Baden-Württemberg residents said they were members of a club, three years later it was only 30 percent.
Women suffered significantly more than men
In 2019, over 90 percent of those surveyed said they had friends they could count on for help at any time. Now only 83 percent say so. And: Almost 25 percent are of the opinion that you can no longer rely on anyone. Before the pandemic, only 9 percent said so. Women and men experienced living together differently during the pandemic. Women see the cohesion as significantly lower, they perceive society as less fair and feel more insecure in their immediate living environment than men.
Despite everything, young people are more hopeful than older people
The new study also underpins what many people perceived anyway: Younger respondents were more stressed during the pandemic than older people – after all, schools and universities were closed for a long time. 47 percent of young people between the ages of 16 and 24 said they were often or always tired and exhausted since the beginning of Corona. Among the older it was only 29 percent. 58 percent of younger people said they had suffered from the corona measures, while only 37 percent of older people said so. A glimmer of hope: According to the survey, younger people are a little more optimistic about the future than older people.
Not a political glorification journal
Many people in Baden-Württemberg felt let down by politicians during the pandemic. Only 17 percent think that politicians have done enough for cohesion, four out of ten respondents say it was not enough. Young people in particular find that too many decisions have been made over their heads. It is hardly surprising that identification with the state has also declined: instead of 81 percent as in 2019, only 61 percent are proud of their state.
Federal Minister for Family Affairs Paus said it was very important for politicians to focus more on young people. She reminded that the federal government had given two billion euros for the program to catch up deficits during the Corona period. “It’s about getting going again.” So far, contact points for youth welfare that have already been there have been supported. “Now the question arises as to how we can broaden this.” Social Affairs Minister Lucha said that the financial politicians had to be told with even more verve that more had to be invested in social cohesion. “We must not save on these points.”
Study by the Bertelsmann Foundation
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