"I love every quiet corner of home: my armchair, angled for a perfect view of bird goings-on and bleak skies outside; my marshmallowy bed; the sofa, stacked with blankets; the kitchen (I don't cook, but it's where snacks live). What could be nicer than sinking into the stifling embrace of multiple heated throws as a jacket potato crisps up in the oven and I succumb to a smorgasbord of good winter telly?"
"Home if we're lucky feels like a haven, a feeling compounded by Covid (which reframed staying there as a civic virtue) and even if we're not lucky, it's cheaper, during a cost-of-living crisis. But as the urban policy specialist Diana Lind wrote in the Washington Post in August, The cheapest and easiest option staying in is costing us something else. Not going out is bad for us for selfish reasons: social isolation increases our mortality risk.'"
Short days and colder weather encourage people to prefer staying at home, enjoying armchairs, cosy beds, blankets, snacks and streaming entertainment. Home comforts, heated throws, and easy food delivery and online socialising make staying in the default choice for many. Covid reframed staying home as civic virtue and economic pressures make home the cheaper option. Cultural trends celebrate cancelling plans and pride in solitude. Prolonged retreat reduces outdoor activity and social contact. Social isolation is linked to higher mortality risk, signalling a public-health cost to the growing preference for indoor life and convenience.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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