For 28 years, Germany’s largest insurance company R + V has conducted a survey about people’s concerns.
In the year of the Corona pandemic, the level of public concern as a whole actually decreased.
This result surprised even the researchers.
The worry index has even reached the lowest level since the concern survey was conducted, from 39 percent in 1992 to 37 percent in 2020.
People have the feeling that “everything is under control and we can handle this,” explains Brigitte Rmstedt.
This attitude is different from a few years ago when there was war, terrorism, the political crisis of immigration, and extremism were the biggest fears of the German people.
For the study, some 2,400 men and women in Germany aged 14 and over were surveyed between early June and late July this year.
Researchers asked respondents about their greatest fears in politics, economics, personally and in their environment.
The survey results show that the German population is relatively unafraid of the current pandemic.
Only 32% (35% previous year) said they were afraid of falling ill because of a serious illness. Even though this year there is a Corona pandemic.
In fact, 42% of respondents said they were concerned that globalization could cause pandemics to occur more frequently in the future.
“Given the rapid spread of the virus around the world, we are expecting higher numbers. But according to our findings, people are much more afraid that the virus could threaten their economic well-being than their health,” said Brigitte Rmstedt.
On November 3rd there will be presidential elections in the US. For many Germans, Donald Trump’s victory is a nightmare.
Trump tops the fear list, with 53% of respondents saying they fear the political repercussions.
On the political front, concerns about immigration have fallen to their lowest level in five years.
In 2020, 43% of people surveyed said they were concerned that the influx of foreigners could cause tensions between citizens and newcomers.
But the number of people worried that Germany could be overwhelmed by refugee arrivals has fallen from 56% last year to 43% this year.
