The Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of the Life Course Theory

The article raises issues related to the multifaceted effects of the COVID-19 pandemic observed in Poland and considered in the perspective of the Life Course Theory. The aim of the analyses was primarily to capture the diversity of the experiences of the pandemic, and especially its impact on the fate, aspirations, and attitudes of people at different stages of life: young adults who have already achieved independence, parents living with their children, and seniors. In this light, it was crucial to determine how the period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland in the years 2020-2022, the common threat associated with the new disease, but also taking broadly understood individual and collective measures to protect against infection, had an impact on decisions made by people, the perception of one's own situation (as well as the situation of others), choices made, and the way of reacting to the surrounding reality. The key similarities and differences in the reactions of people being at different stages of life to the surrounding reality are crucial in this context. The empirical basis for the presented analyses and conclusions included the data and materials collected mainly as part of the project titled "The social effects of the pandemic. Selected socio-demographic categories in the perspective of lifestyles - a longitudinal study", conducted in 2022 by researchers from the IFiS PAN. The interviews conducted in 2022 were the final return to the same people we had spoken to in 2020 and 2021.