FORS COVID-19 surveys

FORS makes an important contribution to the evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on the population in Switzerland.
Questions on COVID-19 were included in various FORS surveys and then made available to researchers in Switzerland.
Below a selection of surveys with research results and data around COVID-19.
In order to better understand the impact of Covid-19 on society in Switzerland, a three-wave online panel survey with questions on the coronavirus pandemic and the measures to control the spread of the virus was added to the annual social survey MOSAiCH. The focus of this Covid-19 survey is on questions about well-being, work, work-life balance, and politics. The first wave was fielded from end of April to mid-June 2020.The online questionnaire was answered by 2421 people living in private households in Switzerland and aged 18 or above. The second wave was surveyed during the month of October 2020 and answered by 1270 respondents. The results were statistically weighted to achieve better representativeness for the Swiss population. The respondents will be invited to a third wave in spring 2021, which will allow to measure the impact of Covid-19 in the longer term.

The cumulated MOSAiCH COVID-19 dataset, including the three COVID-19 panel waves fielded from spring 2020 to spring 2021, is now available on SWISSUbase.

Results of the COVID-19 MOSAiCH survey, summarized in factsheets

The following factsheets are avaiable in German and French:

Well-being and worries during the lockdown. Factsheet N°1.

Policy, fundamental rights and environmental concerns during the lockdown, Factsheet N°2.

Work situation during the lockdown. Factsheet N°3.

Reconciling family and career during the lockdown. Factsheet N°4.

The factsheets in German

The factsheets in French

Technical information on the MOSAiCH COVID-19 Survey

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Publications:

The following contributions are based on the FORS COVID-19 MOSAiCH survey.

The German and French versions are published on the DeFacto platform.

The German and French versions are published on the DeFacto platform.

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Lamprecht & Stamm conducted a study on the impact of the pandemic on volunteering on behalf of the Migros Culture Percentage and with data from the FORS COVID19-MOSAiCH study.

People who volunteer have weathered the pandemic better in several ways than those who do not do any volunteering. Although not every person who volunteers is more trusting of political and social institutions, they are more satisfied with their lives, receive more social support, are less socially isolated and suffer fewer bouts of depression.

More information on the study

The summary of the study

The Swiss Household Panel has conducted a special wave to assess the living conditions during the COVID-19 semi-lockdown in spring 2020. Thanks to this intermediate measuring point, the SHP offers an interesting opportunity to observe the impact of this period on the daily lives and the changes that it entailed for the Swiss population. The additional wave focuses on the following topics:

  • Well-being and health
  • Changes in work and financial situation
  • Time use
  • Home schooling
  • Family and social life and
  • The evaluation of the government policies.
First results of the Swiss Household Panel – Covid-19 Study
Jan-Erik Refle, Marieke Voorpostel, Florence Lebert, Ursina Kuhn, Hannah S. Klaas, Valérie-Anne Ryser, Nora Dasoki, Gian-Andrea Monsch, Erika Antal and Robin Tillmann

Published in: FORS Working Paper Series

The data of the SHP COVID-19 Study are now available on SWISSUbase.

Scientific articles by the Swiss Household on COVID-19

Who is most affected by the Corona crisis? An analysis of changes in stress and well-being in Switzerland.
Ursina Kuhn, Hannah S. Klaas , Erika Antal , Nora Dasoki , Florence Lebert , Oliver Lipps
Link to the online article
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The following article uses data from the Swiss Household Panel:
Large loss in studying time during the closure of schools in Switzerland in 2020

Michael Grätz (UNIL) and Oliver Lipps (FORS)
Read the online article
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Die Entwicklung von Stress in der Schweiz – die erste Welle der Pandemie verschafft gestressten Menschen eine Pause.
Klaas, H. S., Kuhn U., Refle, J.-E., Voorpostel, M., Ryser V.-A., Dasoki, N., & Tillmann, R. (2021). Social Change in Switzerland, N°26. doi: 10.22019/SC-2021-00004
L’évolution du stress en Suisse – la première vague de la pandémie, une pause pour les personnes stressées.
Klaas, H. S., Kuhn U., Refle, J.-E., Voorpostel, M., Ryser V.-A., Dasoki, N., & Tillmann, R. (2021).  Social Change in Switzerland, N°26. doi: 10.22019/SC-2021-00003
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Effets de la pandémie de coronavirus et du semiconfinement sur les conditions de vie : une analyse de l’enquête « COVID-19 » du Panel suisse de ménages selon les catégories de revenu

Mandated by the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO), FORS and the HETSL have published a report on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the semi-lockdown in spring 2020 on the living conditions of households in Switzerland. Based on the Swiss Household Panel data, the report shows that social inequality has increased in some respects: Low-income families had a higher risk of running into financial problems and many of them had to draw on their savings, scale down their standard of living or apply for social assistance.

For more information download the report here or contact Philipp Dubach by email: philipp.dubach@bsv.admin.ch.

In Switzerland, SHARE, the survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, is run jointly by FORS and the University of Lausanne. At the request of the European Commission, a telephone survey investigating the impact of the epidemic among SHARE respondents was set up. A first Covid CATI survey was fielded in June and July 2020 and a follow-up will be fielded in Mai and June 2021. The two Covid CATI surveys investigate the impact of the epidemic on physical health, mental health, medical follow-up and compliance with health measures. A second aspect concerns the impact of the epidemic on employment, working conditions and the financial situation. And a final component investigates the impact of the epidemic on social contacts and social support.

The data of the first Corona Survey (SHARE Wave 8 COVID-19 data) has already been released in December 2020 and has already been used in various >> research publications from all over the world.

More information on SHARE data access here: www.share-project.org/data-access.html

More about the SHARE Corona Survey: www.share-project.org/special-data-sets/share-corona-survey.html and the SHARE-COVID19 research project: www.share-project.org/share-covid19.html

(10.10.21) A new study using SHARE data reveals which factors influence the willingness for vaccination across Europe.

Consult the press release

Consult the scientific article

 

February 2022: Release 8.0.0 is available

New data set includes SHARE Corona Survey 2

Data from the second SHARE Corona Survey are now available. The second SHARE Corona Survey re-interviewed respondents of the first SHARE Corona Survey enabling to study changes between the start of the pandemic and the situation one year later in a cross-national perspective. The questions covered physical and mental health, Corona-related infections in the personal social circle, quality of healthcare, changes in work and economic situation, social networks and internet use during the pandemic.

Further, Release 8.0.0 comes with some major data improvements: It comprises the latest state of data cleaning and harmonisation across waves, offers new Accelerometry data, including epoch-data, and covers updated special datasets like easySHARE and the Job Episodes Panel.

Researchers can download the data free of charge after registration.

Here, you can find all information about data access and data documentation.

The Swiss Election Study Selects has been investigating the electoral behaviour of Swiss citizens in national elections since 1995. In the fourth wave of the Selects Panel Survey, which was fielded one year after the federal elections  (from 28 September to 2 November 2020), there was a block of questions on COVID-19. The questions not only cover citizens’ opinions on the role of the Federal Council, Parliament, and cantons in the crisis management, fundamental civil rights, the relationship between the economy and public health but also investigate populist attitudes and work-related changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Selects Panel Survey data is available on FORSbase.

Swiss COVID-19 Data Symposium (online) March 23, 2021

The Swiss Covid-19 Data Symposium organised by FORS gave social science researchers an overview of different Swiss datasets that could be analyzed to assess the impact of the Covid-19-pandemic on numerous aspects of individuals’ everyday lives.

COVID-19 data from the following surveys and studies were presented online: MOSAiCH, Swiss Corona Stress Study, Selects, Swiss Household Panel, COVID-19 Social Monitor ZHAW, SHARE and the COVID-19 Edition Science Barometer Switzerland. Researchers also got the chance to talk to the producers of the data and ask detailed questions.

All the presentation slides are uploaded on the COVID-19 Data Symposium website.

Consult the Data Symposium website

Contribution in the media

“Sie wollen ihr Vor-Corona-Leben nicht zurück: Warum rekordviele Menschen eine Firma gründen”, Luzerner Zeitung, 10.07.2021

L’évolution du stress en Suisse – la première vague de la pandémie, une pause pour les personnes stressées / Die Entwicklung von Stress in der Schweiz – die erste Welle der Pandemie verschafft gestressten Menschen eine Pause

12.07.2021 Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) “Die Pandemie bedeutete nicht für alle mehr Stress”

07.07.2021 Le Temps “Le semi-confinement a déstressé les plus aisés”

06.07.2021 Der Bund “Der Lockdown ist auch ein Stresskiller”

06.07.2021 La Côte “Coronavirus: la première vague a été une pause pour les personnes stressées”

06.07.2021 Le Nouvelliste “Coronavirus: la première vague a été une pause pour les personnes stressées”

06.07.2021  RTS info “La pandémie, une pause pour les personnes stressées”

06.07.2021 World in 24 “The first wave was a break for…”