Covid-19 pandemic fuels job loss worries, anxiety

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in worries about job or income loss, and anxiety because of lack of social interactions, a survey by an insurance company revealed.

A 2,400-respondents survey by SBI Life Insurance said job or income loss is among the top three financial worries, and a bulk of 78 per cent respondents feel that stress or anxiety affects mental and physical immunity. The insurance company recently unveiled the comprehensive consumer survey, providing deep insights into consumer predispositions towards financial immunity in a post Covid world. It commissioned the 'Understanding consumer attitude towards Financial Immunity' survey with The Nielsen Company, reaching out to consumers across 13 key cities covering the length and breadth of India.

Understandably, in the wake of Covid-19, maintaining personal physical immunity has been on the fore, with almost every respondent confirming to have increased focus on physical immunity in some way. In fact, 8 out of 10 Indians are aware that 'stress' lowers mental and physical immunity. The survey further attempted to better understand the cause of stress, by enquiring about the top financial worries of the consumer today. The top three reasons for stress are attributed to financial security against critical illness, family member getting infected by any lifestyle disease or Covid-19 and job or income loss. The reasons for financial worries cited by consumers underpin the stress caused by financial management of lifestyle diseases. Alarmingly, over 50 per cent Indians are not sufficiently prepared to face any financial emergencies related to lifestyle diseases.

M Anand, president – Zone II, SBI Life, said, "Over the last six months, individuals and families across the length and breadth of our nation, have shown tremendous resilience in coping with the pandemic. Despite the challenging environment, SBI Life's consumer study on 'Financial Immunity' highlights the reassuring sentiment on the need to build a robust Financial Immunity to safeguarded one's future and be protected from financial adversities." We strongly believe that gaining financial immunity rests at the foundation of achieving one's life objectives, he added.

On the brighter side, the pandemic has brought in a realization on the need for protection, with seven out of 10 Indians who currently do not own a critical illness cover, explicitly expressing an intention to buy one in the next three months. Another encouraging insight thrown up by the survey, is that eight out of 10 consumers purchase life and health insurance with a clear motive of safeguarding family's future.