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Degree of freedom of life is 58.3 pts in September, up 4.0 pts compared to August
Degree of anxiety scores down across the board and scores for Degree of activity restriction items going out and shopping also ease
While anti-infection measures continue, more behaviors shift to “outside”

Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, a think tank of Hakuhodo Inc., in September 2020 conducted its sixth “Survey of Sei-katsu-sha Concerning COVID-19” to understand sei-katsu-sha’s attitudes and behaviors during the coronavirus. The survey was conducted September 3–7, 2020 in the Greater Tokyo (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama and Ibaraki Prefectures), Greater Nagoya (Aichi, Mie and Gifu Prefectures) and Hanshin (Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara Prefectures) areas, targeting 1,500 males and females aged 20–69. Some questionnaire items have been surveyed since March. See p. 14 for the survey outlines.

The survey was conducted as COVID-19 cases began dropping from late August, after resurging from the end of July through August. When we asked sei-katsu-sha to rate their freedom of life under current circumstances if their normal life prior to the spread of COVID-19 rated 100 points, the result was 58.3 points, up 4.0 points since August.

When we asked about 41 items respondents may be feeling anxious about, activities they may be restricting and behaviors they may have changed as a result of the spread of COVID-19, scores for all Degree of anxiety items were lower than in the August survey. In particular, the size of the drops was notable for Feel anxious about the government’s response (73.1%, down 9.8 points) and Feel anxious about the lack and uncertainty of information (66.6%, down 6.1 points).

In Degree of activity restriction, scores for all items remained high, in the 70–89% range, but all were lower than last month, including Refrain from taking nonessential and nonurgent trips (82.5%, down 6.3 points) and Refrain from nonessential and nonurgent shopping (74.4%, down 6.1 points).

In Degree of behavioral change, scores for nearly all items dropped. The drops in scores for such items as Commute to work/school during off-peak hours as much as possible (35.1%, down 6.6 points), Telework as much as possible (28.7%, down 5.9 points), and Refrain from going out and use net shopping and food delivery services instead (44.1%, down 4.6 points), were notable. Nevertheless, Consistently wear a mask, wash my hands and take other precautions against infection (92.8%, down 0.8 points) remained high. It seems that even as they remain vigilant against infection and continue to restrict their activities people are starting to shift behaviors like going out and going shopping to “outside.”

This survey will be conducted regularly for the time being (The survey content may be changed depending on changes in circumstances).

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