How COVID-19 Reshaped Our Work, Wallets, and TV-Watching Habits
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented changes in our daily lives. Lockdowns, isolation, and the immense strain on mental and emotional well-being left a dark-cloud over many. Even though the worst seems to have passed, its echoes seem to linger in our lives.
A noticeable shift in personal behavior prompted me to investigate the long-term effects of the pandemic on our personal lives. From social dynamics to professional engagements, everything seems to be just a little…different. Thus, I embarked on a data-driven journey to understand whether our personal relationships, work ethics, and entertainment consumption patterns shifted due to the pandemic.
Motivation & Hypothesis
Observing my surroundings, people seemed more reserved and less engaged socially, and overall the vibe has just been down. I hypothesized that post-pandemic:
- Separation rates among couples have risen.
- People are resorting more to television for comfort.
- While work hours might have surged, incomes probably remained stagnant.
Moreover, I was intrigued to see if separated individuals experienced a more pronounced effect than others.
Dataset and Variables
The dataset, 'timeuse_cleaned.csv', was the perfect fit for my study. Relevant columns Year, Marital Status, Weekly Working Hours, TV, Income, and Age provided a comprehensive view. While the initial four directly catered to my hypothesis, Income and Age were crucial to eliminate potential biases or alternate explanations.
To begin, I ran descriptive statistics of the two continuous variables I would be working with.
Analysis
- Initially, a trend analysis between marital status and TV consumption showed a significant surge in TV time for widows, the separated, never-married individuals, and those married with their spouses present. Surprisingly, the latter went against expectations, as traditionally those married but with spouses absent would show such patterns. However, these absentees portrayed a sharp decline, raising questions about their work patterns.
2. An examination of work hours revealed distinct patterns. Widowed and married (spouse absent) individuals were the champion workaholics, drastically increasing their work hours during the pandemic. The widowed demographic juggling increased TV time and work hours. Meanwhile, most other groups, including the never-married and divorced, experienced a minor dip in working hours.
3. Curiosity about the correlation between these findings and divorce rates led to an investigation into the changing counts of marital statuses. While expectedly, some like never-married and divorced counts dwindled during the pandemic, widowed and separated counts remained unchanged. This suggests that COVID didn’t significantly impact the marital status of already single individuals.
4. The income findings were eye-opening. Most income groups seemed to be working just as hard but taking home less pay. Yet, those making over $150,000 experienced a boost in their earnings. But let’s be real, that wasn’t too shocking!
Deep Dive: The Elite Earning Bracket
While they earned more, did they also slog more? The answer was a resounding no. Instead, it seems they are working smarter not harder. While most groups maintained a steady work time through the pandemic, only the highest earners > $150,000k)and the lowest earners (< $5k) significantly reduced their work time during the pandemic.
Conclusion
My hypothesis was spot on in many areas. People, especially certain marital categories, did resort more to television. Most individuals, except the top earners, were working roughly the same hours but unfortunately taking home a lesser paycheck. The elite earning bracket and the lowest-earners were relaxing while everyone else slaved away. Could this explain the decline in general societal mood?
The pandemic undeniably reshuffled our priorities and affected various facets of our lives. Using the Time Use dataset gave illuminating insights into these shifts. While data provides patterns, the human stories behind these numbers are far more complex and layered, making continuous research and empathy crucial in these testing times.
