Mannheim Corona Study

The Mannheim Corona Study (MCS) is a project of the German Internet Panel that investigates the social changes caused by the Corona pandemic in Germany. From 20 March to 10 July 2020, approximately 3,600 participants of the German Internet Panel (GIP) were interviewed every week about how their lives have changed since the Corona crisis. The study examined social/economic aspects (e.g. childcare, employment situation and disposable income) as well as the impact of policies on social interactions, feelings of anxiety and public support for the measures to contain the Corona pandemic.

The Mannheim Corona Study conducts research on the following topics:
• Changes to the job (e.g. home office, leave of absence, job loss) due to the Corona
crisis
• Financial hardship induced by the corona crisis
• The childcare situation of children and adolescents under the age of 16 before and
during the corona crisis
• Satisfaction with the work of selected politicians
• Attitudes towards democratic processes during the corona crisis
• Frequency of social interactions
• Attitudes towards the economic costs and benefits for society of measures taken to
contain the pandemic
• The extent to which individuals are personally affected by the corona virus and their
subjective health risks
• Feelings of fear and concern

Topics: Child care situation before and during the Corona crisis: number of children under 16 in the household; no children in the household; regular child care in February 2020 by the following persons or institutions: Daycare, primary school, school, person aged 60 and over, no care); childcare on the day of the interview (by the respondent, emergency care, other person in the household under/over 60, person under/over 60 not living in the household, none, daycare/school); spouse or partner; Place of residence of partner; employment status of partner; division of childcare between partners before Corona crisis; reduction of working hours during Corona crisis to provide childcare (with partner, without partner); housing situation mid-March to end-May: Number of rooms; flat amenities including balcony, garden, study, none of the above.

Social contacts: Frequency of social contacts in the week before the first Corona measures took effect (2-8 March) and in the past 7 days.

Financial constraints due to the Corona crisis: household income in February 2020, March 2020, April 2020, May 2020 and June 2020 (grouped); occupation held on the day of the interview.

Personal concern by the Corona virus and corresponding risk assessments: Sense of personal threat from the Corona pandemic; assessment of current likelihood of infection (mild, severe) and future likelihood of infection in the next 7 days; assessment of personal likelihood of infection in the next 7 days; number of Corona infected persons known personally; no infected person known at the moment; Feeling of control with regard to infection with the Corona virus in the next 7 days; current emotional state (tension, excitement, concern, anxiety, nervousness); estimation of the probability of a severe course after one´s own Corona infection; time spent in hours and minutes on vigorous, moderate and mild physical activities in the week before the first Corona measures take effect (2-8 March) and in the week before the first Corona measures take effect (2-8 March). -(2-8 March) and in the past 7 days; total daily use of computer, smartphone, gaming, television, streaming and other electronic devices in the past 7 days; number of snacks eaten in the week before the first Corona measures took effect (2-8 March) and in the past 7 days.

Life situation and occupational changes related to the corona crisis: Daily hours of work; daily hours of care; satisfaction with areas of work and family life; frequency of low mood, lack of interest and loneliness in the past 7 days (depression tendencies); job security; protective measures taken to protect against the coronavirus (wore a mouth guard, wore gloves, kept distance from others, washed hands frequently, disinfected contact surfaces, no protective measures, been at home continuously in the past week); Protective measures taken in occupational activity (wore a face mask, wore gloves, kept distance from others, washed hands frequently, disinfected contact surfaces, no protective measures, do not currently have an occupational activity, currently have an occupational activity but have not worked on site at all since the Corona crisis, or (never work locally for an employer or client); worries about contracting the corona virus when shopping, at the doctor´s and at work; current amount of work of dependent employees (full-time, part-time, reduced hours, time off with/without continued pay); amount of work reduced hours; amount of work of self-employed (more, somewhat the same or less than before the start of the corona pandemic, not at all); place of work; system-relevant occupation; partner/partner works in a system-relevant occupation.

Opinion on political issues: satisfaction with the work of selected politicians (Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn and Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier); attitudes towards democratic procedures in the Corona crisis: approval of far-reaching rights of the federal government to contain the Corona pandemic even without the approval of the Bundestag or the federal states; opinion on the impact of current measures to contain the Corona pandemic (economic damage greater than their benefit to society vs. societal benefits greater than economic damage); policy measures appropriate in the current situation to contain the Corona pandemic (closure of public institutions, border closures, cancellation of major events, curfew, suspension of local and long-distance transport, none of these measures, tracking of mobile phones); opinion on a legal regulation on the home office; Approval of home office (without middle category); satisfaction with democracy; party preference (Sunday question); justifiability of tax evasion (tax morality); satisfaction with the performance of the federal government and the state government; satisfaction with the performance of the parties CDU/CSU, SPD, Bündnis90/Die Grünen, Die Linke, AfD and FDP in the Bundestag; Perception of the unity of the federal government and the aforementioned parties; satisfaction with the performance of the EU; opinion on European unification; opinion on the decision-making competence of the EU with regard to reforms in the member states; expected own economic situation in one year; responsibility of the state with regard to ensuring sufficient health care, an adequate standard of living in old age, for the unemployed and for families with children; the state should take measures to reduce income disparities; good understanding and assessment of important political issues; politicians strive for close contact with the population; active participation in political conversations; politicians care what citizens think.

Corona warning app: Smartphone use; Smartphone type; frequency of smartphone use outside the home; installation of the Corona warning app on the smartphone; know helpers to install the Corona warning app; know about activation of Bluetooth on the smartphone; know helpers to activate Bluetooth; willingness to install the Corona warning app on the smartphone; willingness to take precautionary home quarantine at the request of the Corona warning app; willingness to take a Corona test at the request of the Corona warning app; willingness to enter a positive test result in the Corona warning app; health problems; confirmed infection with the Corona virus; unconfirmed infection; Corona warning app installed on smartphone; frequency of use of the Corona warning app.

Demography: core September 2019: sex; age (year of birth, categorised); highest level of schooling; highest level of vocational education; marital status; household size; German citizenship; frequency of private internet use; federal state; employment status.

Additionally coded were: Respondent ID, GIP; Household ID, GIP; Person ID (within household); Year of recruitment (2012, 2014, 2018); Interview date; Assigned group (day of the week); Week of interview (starts Friday each week); Participation in the respective week; State of residence and State of residence on the day of interview (each generated from postcode); weighting factor; errata (display error); randomisation.