Как пандемия изменила жизнь россиян?

Abstract

By comparing the data of “Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey – Higher School of Economics” (RLMS-HSE) for 2019 and 2020, this paper examines the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to contain it had on everyday life of the Russian population. In 2020, because of the total and partial lockdowns, the Russians spent considerably more time using their gadgets. More elderly people switched push-button telephone sets for smartphones and started using the Internet. People began doing more things online: paying utility bills, using cloud storage services, watching TV, playing and/or downloading videogames, visiting social networking sites, shopping and studying. Although an ever increasing amount of time respondents spent online did not seem to affect the quality of their social interactions, a considerable number of people reported feelings of isolation, instances of anxiety and depression during the lockdowns. This was especially pronounced among the elderly. About a third of the respondents over 60 needed some kind of non-medical assistance during the lockdowns and most of them reported receiving it. A third of the elderly people also required medical assistance that was not related to the COVID-19 but only 40 percent managed to receive it. Another two thirds either decided not to seek help because of the dangers of getting COVID-19, or failed to receive it since the health system was too overstretched to attend to the needs of non-COVID patients. In general, by the autumn of 2020, there were only three percent of respondents tested positive for COVID-19, however, almost 70 percent had already heard about COVID cases in their community and/or social network. Nonetheless, 41.5 percent of respondents were unwilling to receive COVID-19 vaccines when they are available. All in all, by the end of 2020, most Russians felt that the COVID-19 pandemic hardly affected their health and social relationships, although almost a quarter reported negative impact of the lockdowns on the economic security of their families.