More than 70 per cent of Singapore residents who took part in a government survey felt that their overall quality of life was the same or better in 2023, compared with 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
But a higher proportion of youths aged 15 to 19 reported a drop in their quality of life and their ability to manage their mental health, compared with before the pandemic.
The survey was commissioned by the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and was conducted by RySense from Jan 31 to Feb 6. Polling was done online and involved 1,052 Singapore residents aged 15 and above.
The findings were released on Sunday (Mar 19), a day before a White Paper on Singapore’s response to COVID-19 is set to be debated in Parliament.
The White Paper looks at what the country did and did not do well during the pandemic.
Writing on Facebook and LinkedIn, Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo called COVID-19 “the crisis of our generation”.
“It severely tested the ability of our leaders and government, as well as the resilience of our people,” she said in her posts on Sunday.
About 72 per cent of Singapore residents polled felt their overall quality of life was the same or better this year, compared with 2019.
Respondents were asked to rate 10 key aspects of life, including relationships, work-life balance and health.
Of the 28 per cent who felt the overall quality of life was worse, at least 6 in 10 of them rated all 10 aspects the same or higher.
About 77 per cent of the respondents said family relationships became stronger or remained the same over the pandemic.
But a higher proportion of youths aged 15 to 19 reported a drop in their quality of life – 38 per cent compared with 28 per cent for the general population.
About 37 per cent of youths in this age group also said there was a decrease in their ability to manage their mental health now compared with before the pandemic.
“This suggests that the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on social activities was more keenly felt by the young, especially teenagers,” said MCI.
For example, about 40 per cent of youths – compared with 28 per cent for the general population – reported that their relationships with friends were poorer than before COVID-19.
