Unhappiness during the Covid-19 outbreak in Malta

What is it about?

We looked at the impacts of Covid-19 during the first weeks of its outbreak in Malta. Within days of the first case being announced, government had put in place a number of restrictions, including a lockdown for the elderly. To understand the effects of this, we designed a survey which was taken by almost 2,000 respondents. The data made it very evident that by the end of March, happiness and life satisfaction had declined considerably in Malta. We also found that social and outdoor activities that normally predict wellbeing failed to predict wellbeing at all. The elderly and those exposed to Covid-19 or concerned about it were the ones that were impacted worst while those with university degree were least likely to be impacted negatively. Factors which contributed to enhanced wellbeing during the outbreak including working from home, engaging in sport, artistic or voluntary work.

Featured Image

Photo by Lisa Luminaire on Unsplash

Photo by Lisa Luminaire on Unsplash

Why is it important?

As governments struggled to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, people across the globe felt the impacts on their lifestyle - and consequently on their wellbeing. Our findings suggest that there may be scope for governments to tackle the disparties in wellbeing that Covid-19 caused. They also suggest that there is scope for promoting safe engagement in activities like sport, creative work and voluntary work as well as work from home for these factors were found to be positively associated with wellbeing.

Perspectives