Social Cohesion and Its Development in Germany Before, During, and After COVID-19: The Bertelsmann Social Cohesion Radar
摘要
The subsequent chapter introduces the conceptual and measurement approach of the Bertelsmann Social Cohesion Radar (SCR). It then continues by reporting the scores obtained by the SCR in country-wide representative studies in Germany in 2017, 2020, and 2023, i.e., before, during, and after the coronavirus pandemic. Results show that in Germany during these years, social cohesion, measured on a scoring scheme from 0 (zero), lowest possible cohesion, to 100 (highest possible cohesion), dropped from 61 to 52. Additional studies in the State of Baden-Württemberg, conducted more closely in time to the coronavirus pandemic's onset and apex, showed that the drop indeed occurred over COVID-19. The most pronounced drop in scores for the single dimensions of social cohesion between 2017 and 2023 was found for Dimension 3.1, Solidarity and Helpfulness. This suggests that COVID-19 indeed had detrimental consequences for the neighborhood quality of life: The percentage of Germans who responded, “(between) at least once every week and daily” to the question “How often do you volunteer in your free time to help other people?” dropped from 26 to 14% over COVID.