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Changing attitudes to people
Q. As a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, have your views and opinions changes about each of the following groups of people?
| More positive view | My views haven’t changed | More negative view | |
| Health workers and care staff | 56% | 40% | 4% |
| People with mental health issues | 23% | 69% | 8% |
| People who are unemployed | 21% | 69% | 10% |
| People who are homeless | 21% | 72% | 7% |
- Over half of people now feel more positive towards health and care workers as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak (56%).
- Around one in five people now feel more positive towards people with mental health issues (23%), those who are unemployed (21%) or homeless (21%).
Employment and Job prospects – Long-term unemployed
Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about looking for work when the Covid-19 restrictions are eased?
THOSE WHO WERE UNEMPLOYED BEFORE COVID-19 AND WILL BE LOOKING FOR EMPLOYMENT ONCE RESTRICTIONS ARE LIFTED (n=135)
| TOTAL:
Agree |
TOTAL: Disagree | Strongly agree | Somewhat agree | Neither agree, nor disagree | Somewhat disagree | Strongly disagree | |
| I’m confident I’ll be able to find a well-paying job in my field at my level of experience | 29% | 43% | 6% | 23% | 28% | 21% | 22% |
| I’m confident there will be many appropriate jobs for me | 25% | 45% | 6% | 19% | 31% | 21% | 24% |
- 43% of people who were unemployed before the Covid-19 outbreak disagree that they’ll be able to find a well-paying job in their field at their level of experience and 45% disagree there will be appropriate jobs for them.
Employment and Job prospects – Recently unemployed
Q. Once the Covid-19 outbreak is over and restrictions are eased, how long do you think it will be before you are back in paid work?
THOSE WHO LOST WORK DUE TO COVID-19 (n=134)
| TOTAL | |
| I don’t think I’ll find paid work again | 10% |
| I think it will take a long time for me to find paid work | 36% |
| I don’t think I’ll be back straight away but I’m confident I’ll find paid work fairly quickly | 36% |
| I’ll be back in paid work straight away | 18% |
| I won’t be looking for paid work after the restrictions are eased | 1% |
| Base (n) | 134 |
- Less than one in five of those who have been made unemployed since Covid-19 think they’ll be back in work straight away (18%).
- 36% think it will take them a long time to find paid work and 10% think they may not find paid work again.
Employment and Job prospects – Employed
Q. To what extent you agree or disagree with the following statements about work after the Covid-19 outbreak?
THOSE WHO ARE STILL IN EMPLOYMENT (n=488)
| TOTAL:
Agree |
TOTAL: Disagree | Strongly agree | Somewhat agree | Neither agree, nor disagree | Somewhat disagree | Strongly disagree | |
| I’m confident I’ll receive a pay rise soon after things are back to normal | 21% | 50% | 6% | 16% | 28% | 24% | 27% |
| I’m confident I’ll be able to get a promotion if I want one | 22% | 44% | 6% | 16% | 34% | 22% | 22% |
| I don’t think my wages will keep up with increases in the cost of living | 48% | 19% | 17% | 31% | 33% | 13% | 6% |
- There is low optimism for wage growth following Covid-19. Just 21% agree (strongly/somewhat) that they expect a pay rise soon after things are back to normal and 22% expect to be able to gain a promotion.
- Around half of people (48%) don’t think their wages will keep up with increases in the cost of living.
Coronavirus concerns
Q. To what extent are you concerned about the threat of Covid-19 (coronavirus) in Australia?
| 11/05 | 04/05 | 27/04 | 20/04 | 13/04 | 06/04 | 29/03 | 22/03 | 09/03 | 10/02 | |
| Very concerned | 34% | 32% | 39% | 44% | 45% | 51% | 53% | 39% | 27% | 25% |
| Quite concerned | 49% | 46% | 44% | 43% | 43% | 37% | 35% | 43% | 36% | 43% |
| Not that concerned | 14% | 18% | 13% | 11% | 9% | 10% | 10% | 14% | 28% | 26% |
| Not at all concerned | 3% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 3% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 9% | 6% |
| Base (n) | 1,067 | 1,093 | 1,054 | 1,051 | 1,068 | 1,069 | 1,086 | 1,034 | 1,096 | 1,057 |
| Age group | Location | |||||
| Total | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Capital | Non-Capital | |
| Very concerned | 34% | 31% | 39% | 31% | 36% | 29% |
| Quite concerned | 49% | 52% | 47% | 48% | 48% | 50% |
| Not that concerned | 14% | 15% | 11% | 16% | 13% | 18% |
| Not at all concerned | 3% | 2% | 3% | 4% | 3% | 4% |
| Base (n) | 1,067 | 341 | 341 | 385 | 718 | 349 |
- Concern about the threat of Covid-19 increased this week with 34% saying they are very concerned and 49% saying they are quite concerned.
Likelihood of developing Coronavirus
Q. How likely do you think it is, that you will develop Covid-19?
| 11/05 | 04/05 | 27/04 | 20/04 | 13/04 | 06/04 | 29/03 | 22/03 | 09/03 | |
| Very likely | 6% | 5% | 5% | 7% | 5% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 7% |
| Somewhat likely | 24% | 26% | 21% | 25% | 28% | 33% | 36% | 34% | 24% |
| Somewhat unlikely | 48% | 46% | 50% | 52% | 49% | 45% | 45% | 45% | 43% |
| Very unlikely | 21% | 23% | 23% | 17% | 18% | 14% | 12% | 13% | 26% |
| Base (n) | 1,067 | 1.093 | 1,054 | 1,051 | 1,068 | 1,069 | 1,086 | 1,034 | 1,096 |
| Age group | Location | |||||
| Total | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Capital | Non-Capital | |
| Very likely | 6% | 7% | 11% | 2% | 7% | 5% |
| Somewhat likely | 24% | 27% | 28% | 18% | 26% | 20% |
| Somewhat unlikely | 48% | 43% | 42% | 58% | 46% | 52% |
| Very unlikely | 21% | 23% | 19% | 23% | 20% | 23% |
| Base (n) | 1,067 | 341 | 341 | 385 | 718 | 349 |
Government response to Covid-19
Q. Overall, how would you rate the Government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?
| 11/05 | 04/05 | 27/04 | 20/04 | 13/04 | 06/04 | 29/03 | 22/03 | |
| Very poor | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 11% | 9% |
| Quite poor | 9% | 9% | 9% | 10% | 12% | 15% | 21% | 20% |
| Neither good, nor poor | 16% | 20% | 17% | 21% | 20% | 21% | 24% | 26% |
| Quite good | 39% | 38% | 44% | 42% | 40% | 37% | 34% | 33% |
| Very good | 32% | 28% | 26% | 23% | 23% | 21% | 11% | 12% |
| TOTAL: Poor | 13% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 17% | 21% | 31% | 29% |
| TOTAL: Good | 71% | 66% | 70% | 65% | 63% | 58% | 45% | 45% |
| Base (n) | 1,067 | 1,093 | 1,054 | 1,051 | 1,068 | 1,069 | 1,086 | 1,034 |
| Gender | Age Group | Location | |||||||
| Total | Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Capital | Non-Capital | ||
| Very poor | 4% | 5% | 3% | 5% | 4% | 2% | 4% | 3% | |
| Quite poor | 9% | 9% | 8% | 12% | 11% | 4% | 9% | 7% | |
| Neither good, nor poor | 16% | 16% | 17% | 25% | 15% | 10% | 15% | 18% | |
| Quite good | 39% | 38% | 40% | 43% | 38% | 37% | 41% | 35% | |
| Very good | 32% | 31% | 32% | 14% | 31% | 47% | 29% | 36% | |
| TOTAL: Poor | 13% | 15% | 11% | 17% | 15% | 6% | 14% | 11% | |
| TOTAL: Good | 71% | 69% | 73% | 57% | 70% | 84% | 71% | 71% | |
| Base (n) | 1,067 | 532 | 535 | 341 | 341 | 385 | 718 | 349 | |
State Government response to Covid-19
Q. How would you rate your state government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?
| 11/05 | 04/05 | 27/04 | 20/04 | 13/04 | |
| Very poor | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 5% |
| Quite poor | 8% | 8% | 9% | 9% | 11% |
| Neither good, nor poor | 16% | 18% | 17% | 20% | 20% |
| Quite good | 39% | 38% | 41% | 39% | 38% |
| Very good | 34% | 31% | 30% | 26% | 26% |
| TOTAL: Poor | 12% | 12% | 13% | 14% | 16% |
| TOTAL: Good | 73% | 70% | 70% | 66% | 64% |
| Base (n) | 1,067 | 1,093 | 1,054 | 1,051 | 1,068 |
| State | ||||||
| Total | NSW | VIC | QLD | SA | WA | |
| Very poor | 4% | 5% | 4% | 3% | 1% | 1% |
| Quite poor | 8% | 7% | 11% | 9% | 3% | 4% |
| Neither good, nor poor | 16% | 18% | 15% | 18% | 19% | 12% |
| Quite good | 39% | 42% | 34% | 44% | 36% | 30% |
| Very good | 34% | 28% | 37% | 26% | 42% | 54% |
| TOTAL: Poor | 12% | 12% | 14% | 12% | 4% | 5% |
| TOTAL: Good | 73% | 70% | 71% | 70% | 78% | 83% |
| Base (n) | 1,067 | 337 | 275 | 215 | 88 | 103 |
COVID-19 RESEARCH
Read Essential's ongoing research on the public response to Covid-19.
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Two Party Preferred:
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