Nearly a month-and-a-half into the lockdown to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19, it has had a significant impact on our personal, social, and economic life.
A study conducted by Kanal Innovations, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works among students, to assess the changes and impact of the lockdown on Keralites around the world has found that people learnt and experimented with new things during the period. It also helped them develop their interpersonal relationships.
The study was conducted among 441 Malayalis from seven countries — India, the U.S., the U.K., the UAE, South Africa, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.
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It covered five sectors such as personal life, economic activity, media, governance, and education. The study tried to gauge the effect that the lockdown had on the respondents’ personal lives and behaviour. It analysed time utilisation by them.
The study looked first at changes in one’s daily routine during the lockdown. It covered aspects from technology use, sleep, and exercise to eating habits and spiritual time. It found a dramatic increase in use of mobile phone and TV. Among the respondents, 72.94% said their mobile phone use was very high, while 17.04% said it had not changed. In the case of 7.92% people, mobile phone use had decreased.
While 64.3% of the participants said their use of social media was high, only 39.46% said their mobile gaming had increased. As many as 64.54% of the respondents used the time to acquire new knowledge or learn skills. Reading habits of 49.32% of the participants and TV viewing of 69.54% increased. A significant aspect was the use of mobile phone for positive and creative purposes.
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Sleep duration increased for 64.53% of the respondents. However, the sleep cycles were not normal for many.
The lockdown did not significantly improve exercise habits, with 68% of the respondents reporting a decrease or little change in exercise when compared to the pre-lockdown period. However, 38.85% said play time outside the house had increased.
The study looked into interpersonal relationships. About 59.74% of the respondents said the lockdown helped improve their relationship with family members. Only 1.36% of the people reported bad relationships. It improved parental attachment in 44.87% of children and better attachment towards children in 46.09% parents.
Another area the study focussed on was mental health. While 45.67% of the respondents said they were positive about the lockdown, 50.44% said it had increased their loneliness. It also found that people with high social media use experienced more loneliness. Depression, anxiety, death fears, and mental distress increased in nearly 20% of them.
The lockdown has had an economic impact too. The family budget of 48.61% of the respondents was hit. As many as 34.5% said the lockdown did not affect them financially, while 8.4% families said it helped increase their income. While 20.9% people believed they could lose their jobs, 24.4% people felt they would not become unemployed but their income would decrease; 14.72% people said they had no idea of what would happen to them after the lockdown.
As many as 53% of respondents said they would reduce their costs, while 34.8% responded they would increase their money spending. Only 23.4% said they would find new sources of income for greater economic security.
The study highlighted the need to encourage income generation activities, else an economic recession could be looming large on the horizon. The use of mobile phones to acquire new skills and knowledge indicated a positive change.