More than a third of the Swiss population suffered more stress than usual due to the coronavirus crisis, according to a representative survey as part of AXA’s digitalization monitor. Women and people under the age of 50 were particularly affected. However, the risk group weathered the crisis relatively calmly. More than half of those surveyed want to work more from home in future.
The coronavirus crisis changed life in Switzerland rapidly and radically. Many employees suddenly had to work from home. According to a representative study from AXA, more than a third of the Swiss population worked entirely from home and another 28% partially. Working from home was not possible for 37% of respondents.
Half of the respondents (51%) said that the greatest challenges about working from home included missing work colleagues and separating working and private life. Over a third had trouble maintaining self-discipline and factoring in enough breaks. But despite everything, working from home was rated positively overall, with more than half of respondents stating that they would like to work from home more often in future.
However, for more than a third of respondents, the coronavirus crisis did entail an increased level of stress. The situation clearly had an above-average impact on women, 43% of whom complained of more stress, conflict or anxiety, compared with 29% for men. 44% of those who had experience of home schooling also suffered from increased stress during the crisis. It is possible that the additional burden often affected women due to child care and home schooling, but this could not be clearly concluded from the survey results.
It is also a fact that people in family households found the crisis more stressful than those in couple households. But the survey showed that those living alone were also affected by the coronavirus crisis, with 42% reporting more stress than usual.
According to the survey, those over the age of 50 found the situation less stressful than younger people, and those who were the calmest in the crisis were the older generation. Only 25% of respondents over 65 years of age reported having more stress, conflict or anxiety. This was a surprising result, as the older generation still has an increased risk of a severe outcome if they become infected. But factored into the current research is the following: The younger generation is generally more tense and anxious compared to older people.
In their private lives, the Swiss also made frequent use of non-physical communication channels during the lockdown. 60% of respondents telephoned more often to maintain contact with family members outside their own household, and more than a third held digital video calls. 30% continued to meet as before while maintaining the necessary social distancing. And 7% continued to meet as often as before but without additional protection measures.
AXA’s digitalization monitor is a representative study that looks at the impact of digitalization on various areas of life. In this context, participants were also asked about topics surrounding the coronavirus crisis. LeeWas GmbH surveyed more than 2,000 people in May 2020 on behalf of AXA.
Mirjam Eberhard works in the AXA newsroom. She researches exciting claims stories for you and also likes to write about the people behind the AXA brand.
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