NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2020
/PRNewswire/ -- The coronavirus pandemic has brought new
anxieties to seniors and their younger family members according to
a new survey published by ValuePenguin.com by LendingTree. And
rather than worrying about falling sick, seniors are grappling with
loneliness, and deep worries about the safety and health of their
families.
- 36% of American seniors aged 75 and older report increased
feelings of loneliness amid the pandemic. 28% of these seniors
said their loneliness was the direct result of not being able to
visit their loved ones. And over a quarter of the surveyed elderly
Americans wished their family members would simply speak to them
more often on the phone.
- 70% of seniors say the COVID-19 pandemic has multiplied the
worries they feel for younger loved ones. 46% of seniors are
worried that the virus would infect their loved ones, a higher
percentage than the seniors who expressed feeling terrified about
getting it themselves. 26% are worried that the pandemic is causing
their loved ones to miss out on life experiences, while 15% feel
their family isn't taking the virus seriously.
- 28% of seniors called for more stringent social distancing
guidelines, due to the worries they feel over the safety of
their younger family members. Fewer than one in 10 replied that
they thought guidelines for social distancing are currently too
strict.
- 44% of younger Americans said they're talking to elderly
relatives more frequently than they did before the pandemic.
But those conversations haven't always been pleasant. One in three
Americans — and 57% of those aged 18-23 — have argued with an
elderly relative about not taking enough precautions (23%) or
taking too many precautions (10%) during the COVID-19
pandemic.
- 41% of all Americans don't trust nursing homes and assisted
living facilities to keep senior residents safe amid the
pandemic. And this worry may be making Americans endanger
themselves. Over one-quarter of Americans aged 75 and younger
reported that they've increased their in-person visits to their
elderly relatives during the pandemic - because they are anxious
about the pandemic's effects on their elderly relatives' care and
their mental states.
According to Andrew Hurst, a
research analyst at ValuePenguin.com, "This is now our second study
that shows that loneliness is a serious side-effect of this
pandemic - and these findings continue to give us a sense of the
mental toll of COVID-19." He adds, "These feelings are something
that could be exacerbated as the year shifts to the holidays,
especially as, at this moment, one-quarter reported seeing their
older loved ones more frequently than before the pandemic. If all
generations are lonely, we have to ask ourselves when the desire to
reconnect is going to become too much."
ValuePenguin.com commissioned Qualtrics to conduct an online
survey of 1,109 Americans, with the sample base proportioned to
represent the overall population. The survey was fielded
Aug. 13-17, 2020. To view the full
report, visit:
https://www.valuepenguin.com/seniors-covid-loneliness
About ValuePenguin.com: ValuePenguin.com, part of
LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE), is a personal finance website that
conducts in-depth research and provides objective analysis to help
guide consumers to the best financial decisions. ValuePenguin
focuses on value, assessing whether the return of a particular
decision is worth the cost or risk of that option, and how this
stacks up with the other possible choices they may have. For more
information, please visit www.valuepenguin.com, like our Facebook
page or follow us on Twitter @ValuePenguin.
Additional Information:
https://www.valuepenguin.com/coronavirus-loneliness-survey
Media Contact:
Divya Sangam (Ms.)
646 693 8445
Divya@valuepenguin.com
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SOURCE ValuePenguin.com