Young people are no more cavalier about the coronavirus than their older counterparts
DURING THE pandemic, young people have often been accused of endangering their elders by flocking to beaches and returning prematurely to cafes, restaurants and bars. But younger folk are no more cavalier about the coronavirus than their older counterparts. In fact the evidence suggests that, if anything, it is old people who underestimate the risks posed by the virus.
Curiously, young people also consider themselves more likely to die from the disease than older people do. Across the entire sample, respondents estimated that covid-19 kills between 1% and 2% of those infected, on average, only slightly above some scientific estimates of the disease’s fatality rate. But that figure varied depending on the respondent.
Young people are also much gloomier than older generations about other people’s odds of making it through the pandemic. Although every age group was aware that the risk of dying from the virus rises with age, people under 35 years old expected the mortality rate for other age groups to be twice as high as older people did.
The authors point out that young people have lived through fewer big health scares than their parents and grandparents. Now that one has come along, they may perceive it as more serious. Of course, just because young people overestimate the deadliness of the disease doesn’t mean they will do more to stop its spread. But when it comes to beliefs about covid-19, it appears that foolhardiness comes with age, and prudence with youth.
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