Will the current crisis have any lasting effect on consumerism?

I think the biggest shift will be to even more online shopping & an even sharper decline in actual physical shopping.

It really isn't going to take that much imagination. There needs to be a turn away from private institutionalised care and push towards more community based bespoke care. It is actually ALOT cheaper Like galaxy has commented though, it is going to be difficult to make that happen. There is too much money invested in care by people who have absolutely no interest in CARE or CARING, they are interested in investment, profit and patient acquisition.

I do not know how we are going to manage the need for care. But I think we need a number of different strategies. We have to bear in mind the ordinary human lifecycle. Some may be interested on leafing school, some after university and some people after having had their own children etc. Thus possibly some people who have not felt like being carers may after their families grow up be interested in a career in care.

I think progressing through careers at increasing levels and in different industries should be part of a person's development of emotional intelligence as an adult.

So on leaving school, if care was an area of interest, one would go into what is a natural start in a support role in the relevant area and then as one matured hopefully move up and or across.

Perhaps instead of national service or a gap year young people should be encourage to try out a field they are not sure of for a year.

When I visited an old persons home in China is asked how they managed with so few staff. The resident spokes person said that each landing was a community and they all helped each other out as they were able.

We are going to have to become imaginative.

I don't think we'll stop spending but online ordering may drop and high street shops will increase. I think we have short memories and life will continue as near to normal as it has ever been subject to recession.

I would definitely support local shops when they reopen, if there were any left in our area. When we moved here 30 years ago, there were 6 independent shops in the next road to us plus a post office.
A short walk away were another 11 including a branch of a small chain of supermarket, plus 3 banks and a building society. All gone now.

I do think people have seen there are some things they can do without or which don't have as high a priority as they first thought. I really do hope we can stop the "we are what we buy" attitude.

A while ago I read that in Germany, I think it was, they have "libraries" set up locally, for DIY tools. People donate their tools and others borrow. It is run locally. The average time an electric drill is used is, apparently 19 minutes. As I know some people who use them a lot it must be the case that some never come out of the box! We do not "need" to own all these trappings and, with food, clothing and other basics likely to get more expensive I do think we will be looking at how we apportion our incomes and it may well lead to politicians rethinking an economy built on continuous consumerism.

Honestly, I’ve bought more than I normally do in this past year. But then, my house is looking nicer and my wardrobe is full of things that make me feel good. My garden has improved enormously, I go cycling and I have a yoga mat at home. Bought more books.

Yes it’s consumerism, but my life is more enjoyable for it.

mumofmadboys

Do you think that after a year of buying very little people will think we really don't need to keep buying 'stuff' and we already have plenty? I know this doesnt apply to everyone. Although we need to open up shops etc to support the economy and jobs we also need to protect the environment and stop producing so much stuff we don't need. If less people were employed in retail maybe the Care industry could be better staffed. Thoughts ?

I really don't think you can shunt people into jobs they are not cut out for. Some may chose to work there but we need a complete change in how we see some of the "hands-on" jobs - the ones you can't do from home that require cross-sectional skills.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I can't imagine that many retired people will have saved £££ during this pandemic. For my DH and me (average age 80) our savings are producing virtually nothing, reducing our income quite a lot. Far from looking forward to splashing out, we know that we shall have to be even more careful to ensure that we don't run out of money before we die.

I am sorry so many retail businesses are closing; I dislike shopping online because I like to see articles before I buy them, as so many pictures are deceptive, and also assistants have a great deal of expertise and advice to offer.

It worries me that our economy seems so dependent on Hospitality and Leisure, as these are luxuries not necessities and are the first to go when money is tight. I would like to see more manufacturing and less importing of essential goods, thus generating money through trade.
Care workers certainly need better pay and conditions; a review of nursing home fees and expenditure is urgently needed, with more money going to the workers, not the owners, often conglomerates; personal knowledge of both. sides

I think you only have to look at the queues outside Ikea and Primark after the first lockdown to know that most people will always want to shop, not necessarily because they need anything but because they can.

We booked a holiday for August this year in January. We were lucky to get it and we got the last 2 spots. Our friends tried to get the same holiday just a few days later but they couldn’t, it was too full and not even a waiting list. People are sick of being locked up and confined.

Many people I know have put holidays on hold, cancelled holidays, and spent their money refurbishing their homes and gardens, during this past year. There is a small retail park close to my house, and it looks busier than ever really, during this lockdown, always queues in and out.
I noticed on my aol newsfeed that people are flocking to book holidays abroad now that Boris has announced possible easing on travel restrictions.

I think we'll just drift back to exactly how we used to be, in fact there could be a massive boom, after all the roaring twenties came straight after a war and Spanish flu. So there might be an economic upswing.

The care thing is interesting re- both this and Brexit - suggesting that care work is both low skilled and low paid (I don't believe it's a low skilled role, but do agree it's low paid) if the implication is that economic migrants from the EU formed a bulk of the workforce.

Before anyone calls me racist etc...economic migrants traditionally take on work that other wont. For instance , you might have a Lithuanian law graduate, who for reasons of need/want comes to the UK to work, but perhaps due to the qualification not being recognised here, cannot practice law, and due to language limitations isn't able to find white collar work, so he/she ends up selling posh coffees, picking fruit, wiping bums etc - jobs that many people sneer at (but shouldn't, because they might need their bum wiping one day...) I voted remain, I cried when we left. I do not enact racism.

So, post Brexit and post pandemic there will potentially be jobs no one wants, jobs they do but that no longer exist, and no willing economic migrants to fill the gap?

I really hope that people will stick with using the local shops still. So many have bent over backwards to get in many of their supplies and cater to many people that wouldn't normally have darkened their doors.
It has also opened many people's eyes to what actually is available not far from their front door.
Shopping online may not continue to be as popular as it has been, I don't think. Not because of what is available but because of the total inefficiency of some of the courier companies. Not a day goes by without someone on our community Facebook group asking if anyone had seen their parcel that had been supposedly delivered.
Also, I always think that for what you often pay in delivery fees, you can get several items at different shops, when the shops are open for the same price !

I am reading 'Loved Clothes Last: How the Joy of Rewearing and Repairing Your Clothes Can Be a Revolutionary Act' by Orsola de Castro. It really, really will make you think before buying anything.

I think and hope I've been cured of my shopping habit.
About time too! Luckily I discovered the gardening obsession so can't wait to go on a major plant buying trip.

It's now 3 weeks since my 1st jab so I have a degree of confidence about browsing the shrub aisle. But my mask will be a must for me when out and about ?

Walk straight into a position that should say. What is wrong with me today.

There are qualifications but it is also possible to work straight into a position and do the qualification as you work. My experience of the quality of those providing the qualifications was very mixed.

Probably going off the point a bit here but do think there should be some formal training and maybe qualification for care workers. Not just straight from the job centre. Maybe there already is I don’t know!

I prefer buying shoes from a shop. There are few shoe shops left in Southampton. However there is one delightful shoe shop run by the same family. I am hoping that they will reopen. There are so many things I cannot buy on line or they turn out to be rubbish or incorrectly described online.

JaneJudge

At the beginning of the first lockdown, I bought 'stuff' online. Now, although I do actually need more clothes, the whole gang of ordering, trying, returning, is too much. I'm trying to do without.

I completely agree Janejudge, I would however be completely astounded if any of the things you mentioned happened with regards to the care field.