Anxious, insecure, and unemployed - Australians’ experiences of COVID-19

New research has revealed massive job losses, high levels of anxiety, and a picture of hardship and distress among Australians. We speak to the authors of the research to get a picture of Australia in the pandemic.

Two-thirds of Australians say they feel anxious or worried about their own and others’ safety and more than 600,000 have lost their jobs due to COVID-19, according to a new study from The Australian National University. Additionally, almost four-in-10 people say they feel it is either very likely or likely that they will be infected with the coronavirus in the next six months. On this week’s Second Serve, we talk to the authors of the study – Professor Matthew Gray and Professor Nicholas Biddle – about Australians attitudes and experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Matthew Gray is Director of the Centre for Social Research and Methods in the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences. He has published research on a wide range of social and economic policy issues including those related to Indigenous Australians. He has particular expertise in work and family issues, labour economics, social capital and social inclusion, measuring wellbeing, the economic consequences of divorce, child support, and social and economic policy development.

Professor Nicholas Biddle is Associate Director of the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods and Director of the newly created Policy Experiments Lab.

Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback for this podcast series! Send in your questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes to podcast@policyforum.net. You can also Tweet us @APPSPolicyForum or join us on the Facebook group.

This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University.

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