The Corona crisis and the Ukraine conflict make many people look to the future with little hope. According to a study, the uncertainty in the population is growing. The fear of not being able to find affordable housing is just one concern among many.
The Germans are losing confidence and composure as the number and duration of the crises increase. On the other hand, fears about the future are growing, as a study by the Opaschowski Institute for Future Research shows. In March 2019 – i.e. before the corona pandemic – and again in March this year – shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine – 1,000 people were asked about their expectations for the future.
The result: Confidence in the stability and security of the economy and society is visibly losing among the population. The proportion of those who fear a growing gap between rich and poor rose from 60 percent in 2019 to 87 percent this year. Not even half (46 percent) feared finding less and less affordable housing three years ago; now the figure is 83 percent.
And eight out of ten respondents now assume that lack of contact for older people can become just as stressful in the future as lack of money. In 2019 it was only six out of ten. More than three quarters (79 percent) now expect a more aggressive mood in society, which will lead to more insults, hatred and a willingness to use violence. Three years ago it was just over half (51 percent).
More than 90 percent of those on low wages shared the concern that the gap between rich and poor would continue to widen, while respondents in rural areas (93 percent) shared the concern about contact poverty in old age. The majority of younger people are confronted with housing that is no longer affordable – 90 percent of those surveyed between the ages of 20 and 24 agreed.
The concern that social interaction will be brutalized is what unites the 65+ generation in particular: while 81 percent fear the spread of hate, violence and insults there, only 69 percent of the under-30s do so. “Fear of the future is spreading because politicians have so far lacked reassuring signals that spread confidence,” said futurologist Horst Opaschowski of the German Press Agency.
“Rather alarmist reports dominate, which hardly give rise to any hope for the future.” Uncertainty about the future is therefore the feeling of the hour. “Across all sections of the population, Germans have only one wish in common: they don’t want to be afraid of the future,” he said.
(This article was first published on Sunday, July 24, 2022.)
