Youth and social cohesion in times of the COVID pandemic: Most negatively affected? Most resilient?

Abstract

Introduction: The current article reports findings from three large representative survey studies in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg. The studies are part of the Social Cohesion Radar research initiative of Bertelsmann Stiftung. Methods: The article explores the role of social cohesion in the relationship between COVID-based objective and subjective strain, on the one hand, and future optimism for the youth, citizens of active age, and the elderly. In particular, it focuses on the question whether the degree of social cohesion perceived by respondents moderates the relationship between strain and optimism in the different age groups. Results and discussion: Findings show that the impact of perceived social cohesion in people’s life context has only modest effects on the relationship between strain and future optimism. Yet, the results show that having been affected by COVID in one way or the other leads to a small but persistent bounce-back effect. People affected by COVID tend to look more optimistic into the future than those who were not.