Survey: Study on the social and financial consequences of the pandemic
Salzburg employees speak of the negative effects on mental health as a result of the pandemic. The young age groups up to 29 years of age are particularly affected.
SALZBURG. The Salzburg Chamber of Labor (AK) presented the results of their Study of the social and financial consequences of the pandemic*. Just under half of those would be affected by negative mental health effects. In the age group up to 29 years of age, 69.1 percent of the study group spoke of considerable or severe damage. “These values turn out to be much more worrying for people who are unemployed,” says AK President Peter Eder.
* The quantitative survey was carried out from March to the end of May 2021. A total of 2,843 people speak.
Extract from the main results:
- The effects went across society.
- For half of the majority (50.7 percent), the pandemic led to a deterioration in quality of life.
- Every second respondent (49.4 percent) reports negative effects on mental health.
- In the age group up to 29 years old, two thirds (69.1 percent) stated that they had very or fairly strong negative effects on mental health.
- Fears about the future of their children were quickly expressed by 60 percent of the.
- 67.1 percent were fairly to severely affected by the pandemic situation.
“This enormous burden on younger speculation is frightening. Urgent measures are needed here to counteract this. “
Ines Grössenberger, co-author of the study
The unemployed are particularly hard hit
At the same time, according to the AK, both survey results would also show that. The results for people on short-time work are said to be significantly better. Admittedly, they would also accept financial cuts. However, because the losses were lower than in the case of unemployment, people on short-time work are said to have worried far less than the unemployed.
“These results reinforce our call for the net replacement rate of unemployment benefits to be increased to 70 percent. This would at least cushion the financial worries and make living in unemployment easier. “
Peter Eder, President of the Salzburg Chamber of Labor
Employees are also burdened
In addition to focusing on the psychological stress of unemployment, Eder raises the increasing stress on people who have a job. So he did Working climate index showed that stress, work pressure, frequently changing requirements and work processes, technical and organizational changes – all central corners of today’s working world – were fueled by the Corona crisis.
The effect: The indicator of mental stress at work has increased by 23 percent.
AK will anchor industrial psychology
In order to counteract this pressure, the Salzburg Chamber of Labor demands:
- Equal treatment of mental illnesses with regard to treatment and costs.
- Increased expansion of the range of benefits in kind for all federal states
- Austria-wide promotion of clearing houses for psychotherapy
- Expansion of low-threshold offers, for example in outpatient clinics and in the planned primary care centers
- Measures to remove taboos in the area of mental stress in companies and in society
- Establish occupational psychology in addition to occupational medicine and safety technology as a preventive service in companies
You might be interested in that too: