Half of Britons think they will find it hard to re-adjust to normal life after the pandemic

Britons are split over whether they will find the transition from pandemic to normality difficult

As summer approaches, many are cautiously looking to the future and the government’s roadmap out of lockdown and a return to “normal” life. However, after spending over a year under heavy restrictions, will Britons find it hard to readjust to how life used to be?

Overall, the general population are split, but lean slightly more towards saying they will find it hard (49%) rather than easy (42%) to adjust when the pandemic eventually comes to an end. There is a distinct split between the genders however, with half of women (56%) saying they will find the change difficult compared to just over two in five men (43%) who say the same.

The youngest Britons are the most likely to say they will find the transition hard. Half of Britons aged 18 to 24 (56%) say they will find readjusting to how life was before March 2020 difficult, compared to a third (33%) who will find it easy.

What will Britons struggle to get used to again?

What do the 49% who expect to find it hard to adjust think they will struggle with? We asked them to tell us in their own words, and the most common answer was being around crowds of other people again, at 34%.

A further 16% say they will find it hard to socialise again, and some 8% will struggle with returning to the workplace or university. For 5% of those who expect to find the change hard, not worrying about catching the virus will prove difficult.

The idea of being around crowds is more of an issue for older Brits, with 44% of those aged 50 and over saying they will find this hard to adjust to, compared to just one in nine (11%) of those aged between 18 and 24. Women are also more likely to say crowds will take time to get used to again (39%), compared to around a quarter of men (27%) who say the same.

Returning to the workplace will also catch some people off-guard, but none more so than Londoners (18%) who are at least twice as likely as other Brits to say they will find it hard to readjust to going back into their workplace.

See full results here