Britons uncomfortable going to the pub post lockdown

People uncomfortable returning to pubs post lockdown

As the UK enters its seventh week of lockdown; an online survey conducted between April 24th and April 27th by Ipsos MORI asked 1066 adults in the UK “Imagine if the lockdown measures end in the next month, how comfortable, if at all, do you think doing each of the following in the same way as you did before the Coronavirus pandemic began?”.

The results show that 61%, almost ⅔, of people would feel uncomfortable going to a bar or restaurant after lockdown restrictions are lifted. A similar number would be nervous about using public transport and 67% would avoid sports and music events. On the other hand, most people would be happy to meet up with friends and family post lockdown.

There is a significant difference in attitude between older and younger respondents. 36% of 18 to 34-year-olds feel comfortable visiting a pub post lockdown while only 22% of 55 to 75-year-olds feel the same.

Keiran Pedley, Research Director at Ipsos MORI said:

“The public are looking forward to seeing family members again in person and a clear majority are comfortable doing so. However, there is clear unease at other consequences of the lockdown ending. In particular, clear majorities of Britons are nervous about using public transport again or going to bars, restaurants or live music and sporting events. These numbers suggest that it will take some time for parts of the British economy to return to any semblance of normality, even after lockdown has ended.”

You can download the full report here.