Has the Covid crisis widened the differences between young people and seniors?

Is there a risk of a conflict between generations after the Covid-19 crisis?

The majority of French people fear it, if we are to believe a study published on February 16 by the Odoxa polling institute commissioned by the Cercle Vulnerabilities et Société, a think tank that is interested in vulnerabilities in the social field. 

We learn that 56% of French people fear a generational conflict, that is to say major disagreements between the youngest and the oldest French, according to the survey carried out among 1005 people on February 3 and 4, 2021. "The survey seems to indicate that the health crisis has led to tensions and differences between generations and gives rise to a feeling of incomprehension, notes Émile Leclerc, director of the study in an interview with France 24. This proves that the decisions taken by the executive concerning the crisis are not trivial on the state of mind of the French. They can in the long term translate into a desire to make others pay for what we have endured. "

>> Deconfinement: time for the dilemma for grandparents

A strong misunderstanding

First edifying data, 70% of people 65 and over believe that young people do not realize the difficulties they encounter.

"It is an extremely high proportion which helps to show the extent of the incomprehension", estimates the director of study.

Same feeling shared among 18-34s in smaller proportions.

Some 57% of young people surveyed think for their part that the older French do not realize the difficulties they have been facing since the start of the health crisis.

"The positions of each are hardening, it is a phenomenon that we can now observe for a few years, observes the director of the study. We have seen it very well during the pension reform, with the oldest who were largely in favor of reforms while young people opposed them more readily. "  

🥁🥁 @OdoxaSondages @CercleVS Covid

survey: the risk of a generational conflict?

To discover the full results and our press release, it's here 👉: https://t.co/5WdGrzvrk1

Or for some data, it's here👇 pic.twitter.com/fc4ZFoizs8

- Cercle Vulnerabilities & Société (@CercleVS) February 16, 2021

These misunderstandings between young people and seniors can be explained on the structural level.

First, there is the geographic distance of families.

"Formerly, the elders could live in the same household with the children and grandchildren. Today, this is no longer the case and the distance often linked to the job no longer allows you to see each other as much or therefore to understand, "says the manager of Odoxa.

The complexity of family patterns has also made intergenerational relationships rare.

Finally, these new divergences can be explained at the structural level: the restrictions put in place by the executive have naturally reduced interactions between the generations.

"We see less grandparents to protect them from viruses, continues Émile Leclerc. We no longer see each other in cafes and places of life, we exchange a lot less, so we understand each other less." 

Difficult isolation for young people

Young people and seniors agree on one point: everyone agrees that young people have been the worst taken into account by the government.

Indeed, 82% of 18-34 and 80% of 65 and over were not convinced by the measures of the executive.

"As often with the French, the executive serves as a lightning rod, underlines Emile Leclerc. We prefer to accuse those who govern us than to criticize another part of the population."  

It must be said that the difficulties of young people are real.

In the lead for 18-34 year olds, the deterioration of social relations.

Some 66% of them confided to suffer from it.

And especially in their love life.

Because 32% of them recognize that their love life has paid the price.

Economically, the decline in purchasing power has affected one in two young people against one in three seniors.

In fact, 27% of young workers told pollsters that they had lost their job or had had difficulty in exercising it.

"No one can deny that young people have paid a heavy price for the crisis, admits Annick, a 77-year-old volunteer at the School of European Grandparents, interviewed by France 24. All these young students who have arrived in a city new to learn and who had to shut themselves up for long weeks in their cramped room, I pity them. We must admit that the situation is very hard to live with. "  

Psychological problems

As a result, young people are much more sensitive to psychological problems.

The study also reveals that 56% of them went through a depressive state or a sharp drop in morale, against only 34% among seniors.

"I was indeed able to note an increase in the number of consultations with the Covid crisis, indicates a clinical psychologist of the adolescent, established in Val-de-Marne, interviewed by France 24. Isolation linked to the health crisis has brought to light some dysfunctions. But I do not think that the crisis necessarily provoked them, she qualifies. This is basically good news: the Covid crisis allows young people to settle today problems which would have been declared later anyway ”.  

To get out of this crisis, should the authorities set up specific confinement for the elderly?

The majority of French people are 56% opposed to it, the poll still reveals.

With the exception of young people who approve of this type of specific measures at 59%, again a sign of diverging interests.

Data that makes the oldest leap.

"It's silly, I don't see why the elderly should be confined more than the others, gets carried away Annick. I scrupulously respect the barrier measures and I do not see why I should be sanctioned. A specific confinement would be death. . If such specific restrictions were taken, you can be sure that I will brave them. I am old enough to know what to do, "concludes the septuagenarian. 

A strong sense of solidarity

Paradoxically, if young people favor this kind of solutions to put an end to the crisis, they nevertheless remain benevolent towards their relatives in the intimate circle.

"Young people aged 17 to 22 that I meet are especially worried about the idea that their parents or grandparents could catch the virus", continues the psychologist.

A speech shared by the director of the study.

"A strong feeling of solidarity also emerges from the survey, and we have also seen that there were no demonstrations in France to contest the restrictive measures as in some of our European neighbors, proof that they are accepted. "  

>> Vaccination in nursing homes: "I do it so as not to contaminate the youth"

Another glimmer of hope in this gloomy picture, young people say they are 53% confident about their professional future when 83% of French people say they are pessimistic.

"This is again a very cultural trend, abounds Émile Leclerc. The French are often much more confident in their personal future than in the fate of the rest of society."

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