Economic hardship and mental health complaints during COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 economic crash is idiosyncratic because of its virtual standstill of economic activity. We therefore ask how individual labor market experiences are related to the development of mental health complaints in the spring of 2020. As clinical data collection was compromised during the lockdowns, standardized surveys of the European labor force provide an opportunity to observe mental health complaints as the crisis unfolded. Data are representative of active members of the labor force of six European nations that contained varying levels of COVID-19 burdens in terms of mortality and lockdown measures. We document a steep occupational prestige level gradient on the probability of facing economic hardship during the lockdowns—looming job loss, income loss, and workload decline—which evidently exacerbate socioeconomic inequalities. Analyses indicate a striking positive relationship between instantaneous economic hardships during the COVID-19 lockdown and expressing feelings of depression and health anxiety. Importantly, the magnitude of the association between such hardships and indicators of mental health deterioration is highly dependent on workers’ occupational standing, revealing a second layer of exacerbating inequality.

The association between socioeconomic status and mobility reductions in the early stage of England’s COVID-19 epidemic

“…The nature of the correlations of mobility reduction across England’s CCG areas with socio-economic status, accessibility, activity commitments and population health is in line with expectations. The strong influence of share of people in the top income quintile is not surprising, given that high-income workers tend to have greater discretion over when and where they work (Witteveen and Velthorst, 2020) and thus greater ability to work from home. In addition, people on high incomes tend to travel more than those on low incomes: individuals in the lowest household income quintile made 859 trips and covered 4,138 km in 2019 against 995 trips (+16%) and 9,236 km in the highest quintile (+223%) according to the UK National Travel Survey (Department for Transport, 2020b).…”

Heterogeneous Mental Health Development During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Kingdom

“…For example, while some individuals suffer from increasing psychological distress from the onset (linear growth), others are affected at first and distress levels off again later (inverted u-curve), and others remain resilient to the external stressor altogether. Similarly, the economic recession associated with the pandemic was v-shaped for high-wage workers, and was much deeper and ongoing for low-wage workers (Chetty et al ., 2020; Witteveen and Velthorst, 2020). We expect mental health to follow heterogeneous developments which are associated with individual characteristics.…”

Financial Hardship and Social Assistance as Determinants of Mental Health and Food and Housing Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

“…The associations with mental health outcomes are in keeping with previous linkages of sudden income loss to depression and anxiety in labor market surveys conducted in six European countries in March and April 2020. 12…”