CSO CSO

THREE IN FIVE (59.9%) of Irish people rate their compliance with the public health guidelines and government advice as “high” this month, down from 80.6% of people in April. 

Nearly half of people (47.7%), meanwhile, say they’re either “very” or “extremely” concerned about the compliance of others with the government advice as Ireland lifts its Covid-19 restrictions. 

In its latest piece of research looking at the social impact of Covid-19, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) looked again at a number of factors such as personal concerns, spending, working life and changes in weight since the onset of the crisis.

CSO statistician Eva O’Regan said: “The findings of the survey serve to highlight how people in Ireland have been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis in terms of their everyday life.”

Two in five people (40.9%) report that they’ve gained weight since the restrictions were brought in March. Women were more likely to report an increase in weight than men – 46.8% and 34.8% respectively. 

Almost half (49%) of people who were working before the pandemic and are currently not working reported an increase in weight. In the case of 13.7% of people, they said they’d lost weight since March. 

When it comes to spending, 79.8% of people said they’d reduced their expenditure during the pandemic. 

Half of people with extra money said they’d saved at least some of it, while 46.9% said they’d used it for home improvements and furnishings. A further 26% said they’d put some away for future holidays. 

Seven in ten people (70.3%) said they’d experienced no loss in their net income since the onset of the pandemic. 

When it comes to working life, 18.5% of people are either very or extremely concerned about their employer’s ability to provide a safe work environment. A similar number (19.6%) of those working from home say they don’t have a suitable workspace with adequate equipment.

People are less concerned about their own health in June than they were in April. The figure for those very or extremely concerned in June was 21.3%, down from 25.8% in April. 

In those aged 70 or over, 42.5% of them were very or extremely concerned for their health in April. This fell to 29.6% in June.

The survey was compiled through online questionnaires and telephone interviews with a sample size of 1,693 people from across the country.