135 Unequal Consequences of Covid 19 across Age and Income: Representative Evidence from Six Countries
- Michele Belot, Syngjoo Choi, Egon Tripodi, Eline van den Broek-Altenburg, Julian C. Jamison, Nicholas W. Papageorge
- sier_135.pdf
Abstract
Covid-19 and the measures taken to contain it have led to unprecedented constraints
on work and leisure activities, across the world. This paper uses nationally
representative surveys to document how people of different ages and incomes
have been affected across six countries (China, South Korea, Japan, Italy, UK and US).
We first document changes in income/work and leisure. Second, we document selfreported
negative and positive non-financial effects of the crisis. We then examine
attitudes towards recommendations (wearing a mask in particular) and the approach
taken by public authorities. We find similarities across countries in how people of different
generations have been affected. Young people have experienced more drastic
changes to their lives, and overall they are less supportive of these measures. These
patterns are less clear across income groups: while some countries have managed to
shield lower income individuals from negative consequences, others have not. We
also show that how people have been affected by the crisis (positively or negatively)
does little to explain whether or not they support measures implemented by the public
authorities. Young people are overall less supportive of such measures independently
of how they have been affected.