The COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore, One Year On: Population Attitudes And Sentiments

Synopsis:

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant upheavals to lives and livelihoods of Singaporeans. In this year-long research, we investigated the attitudes and sentiments of Singaporeans on various social and economic issues amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data was collected using Toluna’s online panel of Singaporean residents aged 21 years and older over 22 waves, from April 2020 to March 2021. From April 2020 to August 2020, a cross-sectional study was conducted over 7 waves, with about 500 respondents per wave. Subsequently, from September 2020 onwards, a panel study was conducted with approximately 2,000 respondents divided into four groups of around 500. Each group was surveyed once every four weeks. Additional respondents were drawn from Toluna’s online panel to replenish respondents that dropped out.

Among our key findings, we observed that majority of respondents were able to adapt well in the pandemic, although younger respondents expressed a lower level of psychological well-being. A substantial proportion of respondents also remained concerned about their financial situation. In addition, we found that respondents progressively adapted to the range of safety measures over the course of the year. Older respondents were also less likely than younger respondents to express concerns about vaccine safety. In terms of workplace environments, preferences for hybrid work arrangements appeared to be prevalent among respondents. Moreover, government satisfaction remained consistently high throughout the year, although concerns about cost of living remain. Optimism about the job market also improved since last year, although differences in optimism were observed between industry sectors.

You may read more about the findings in this study here.

Principal Investigators: Dr Mathew Mathews
Co-Investigator: Syafiq bin Suhaini