Effects of Social Distancing Policy on Labor Market Outcomes

Effects of Social Distancing Policy on Labor Market Outcomes PDF Author: Sumedha Gupta
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This paper examines the impact of the social distancing policies states adopted between March and April of 2020 in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. These actions, together with voluntary social distancing, appear to have reduced the rate of new COVID-19 cases and deaths, but raised concerns about the costs experienced by workers and businesses. Estimates from difference-in-difference models that leverage cross-state variation in the timing of business closures and stay-at-home mandates suggest that the employment rate fell by about 1.7 percentage points for every extra 10 days that a state experienced a stay-at-home mandate during the period March 12-April 12, 2020; select business closure laws were associated with similar employment effects. Our estimates imply that about 40% of the 12 percentage point decline in employment rates between January and April 2020 was due to a nationwide shock while about 60% was driven by state social distancing policies. The negative employment effects of state policies were larger for workers in "non-essential" industries, workers without a college degree, and early-career workers. Policy caused relatively modest changes in hours worked and earnings among those who remain employed. We find no concerning evidence of pre-trends in the monthly (low-frequency) CPS data, but use high-frequency data on work-related mobility measured from cellphones, job-loss-related internet searches, and initial unemployment claims to investigate the possibility that the large employment effects experienced in April could have occurred after the March CPS but but before policy adoption. In those analyses, we find pre-trends for some outcomes but not others. Thus we cannot fully rule out that some employment effects shortly predated the policies. As states relax business closures, ensuring gains in labor market activities in ways that continue to mitigate COVID-19 "surges" and public health risks will be key considerations to monitor.

Effects of Social Distancing Policy on Labor Market Outcomes

Effects of Social Distancing Policy on Labor Market Outcomes PDF Author: Sumedha Gupta
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
This paper examines the impact of the social distancing policies states adopted between March and April of 2020 in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. These actions, together with voluntary social distancing, appear to have reduced the rate of new COVID-19 cases and deaths, but raised concerns about the costs experienced by workers and businesses. Estimates from difference-in-difference models that leverage cross-state variation in the timing of business closures and stay-at-home mandates suggest that the employment rate fell by about 1.7 percentage points for every extra 10 days that a state experienced a stay-at-home mandate during the period March 12-April 12, 2020; select business closure laws were associated with similar employment effects. Our estimates imply that about 40% of the 12 percentage point decline in employment rates between January and April 2020 was due to a nationwide shock while about 60% was driven by state social distancing policies. The negative employment effects of state policies were larger for workers in "non-essential" industries, workers without a college degree, and early-career workers. Policy caused relatively modest changes in hours worked and earnings among those who remain employed. We find no concerning evidence of pre-trends in the monthly (low-frequency) CPS data, but use high-frequency data on work-related mobility measured from cellphones, job-loss-related internet searches, and initial unemployment claims to investigate the possibility that the large employment effects experienced in April could have occurred after the March CPS but but before policy adoption. In those analyses, we find pre-trends for some outcomes but not others. Thus we cannot fully rule out that some employment effects shortly predated the policies. As states relax business closures, ensuring gains in labor market activities in ways that continue to mitigate COVID-19 "surges" and public health risks will be key considerations to monitor.

Corona and Work around the Globe

Corona and Work around the Globe PDF Author: Andreas Eckert
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110718243
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
This book provides a global perspective on the transformations in the world of work caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The collection of essays will break down the general statistics and trends into glimpses of concrete experiences of workers during pandemic, of workplaces transformed or destroyed, of workers protesting against political measures, of professions particularly exposed to the coronavirus, and also of the changing nature of some professions.

A Survey on the Impact of Covid-19 on the Labor Market

A Survey on the Impact of Covid-19 on the Labor Market PDF Author: Ali Zarifhonarvar
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Social, Health, and Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Epidemiological Control Measures

Social, Health, and Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Epidemiological Control Measures PDF Author: Axel Börsch-Supan
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 311113590X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
The COVID-19 pandemic posed a major threat to the well-being of older Europeans. Its economic and social effects, however, varied across countries. This multidisciplinary book presents the first results of analyses that combined the renowned longitudinal database of SHARE with new data from two telephone surveys that were uniquely conducted during the pandemic. The analyses address important policy-related issues, such as: Did social distancing destabilize family and social support networks? Did the pandemic increase health, social and economic inequality? Who had to forego essential health care because of the pandemic? Did lockdown affect one's physical and mental health? Did the shift towards remote work affect workload and well-being? Were different housing conditions related to the spread of the virus?

The Short-Term Impact of COVID-19 on Labor Markets, Poverty and Inequality in Brazil

The Short-Term Impact of COVID-19 on Labor Markets, Poverty and Inequality in Brazil PDF Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513571648
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
We document the short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Brazilian labor market focusing on employment, wages and hours worked using the nationally representative household surveys PNAD-Continua and PNAD COVID. Sectors most susceptible to the shock because they are more contact-intensive and less teleworkable, such as construction, domestic services and hospitality, suffered large job losses and reductions in hours. Given low income workers experienced the largest decline in earnings, extreme poverty and the Gini coefficient based on labor income increased by around 9.2 and 5 percentage points, respectively, due to the immediate shock. The government’s broad based, temporary Emergency Aid transfer program more than offset the labor income losses for the bottom four deciles, however, such that poverty relative to the pre-COVID baseline fell. At a cost of around 4 percent of GDP in 2020 such support is not fiscally sustainable beyond the short-term and ended in late 2020. The challenge will be to avoid a sharp increase in poverty and inequality if the labor market does not pick up sufficiently fast in 2021.

Mandated and Voluntary Social Distancing During The COVID-19 Epidemic

Mandated and Voluntary Social Distancing During The COVID-19 Epidemic PDF Author: Sumedha Gupta
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
In this paper, we make five broad contributions. First, we provide a concise review of economic and social science research on mobility patterns, labor market outcomes, consumer behavior, and population health during the first phase of the epidemic. Second, we sketch a simple microeconomic model that may be useful considering the determinants of social distancing and the role of different policy instruments in promoting distancing. Third, we present a simple typology of the policies that were used at the state and county levels during the closure and re-opening phases of the epidemic in the U.S.. Fourth, we review a collection of new data sources that have played an important role in monitoring and analyzing population behavior this year. Fifth, we present results from event study regressions that try to disentangle private vs. policy-induced changes in mobility patterns during the early part of the epidemic.

Good Jobs, Bad Jobs

Good Jobs, Bad Jobs PDF Author: Arne L. Kalleberg
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610447476
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
The economic boom of the 1990s veiled a grim reality: in addition to the growing gap between rich and poor, the gap between good and bad quality jobs was also expanding. The postwar prosperity of the mid-twentieth century had enabled millions of American workers to join the middle class, but as author Arne L. Kalleberg shows, by the 1970s this upward movement had slowed, in part due to the steady disappearance of secure, well-paying industrial jobs. Ever since, precarious employment has been on the rise—paying low wages, offering few benefits, and with virtually no long-term security. Today, the polarization between workers with higher skill levels and those with low skills and low wages is more entrenched than ever. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs traces this trend to large-scale transformations in the American labor market and the changing demographics of low-wage workers. Kalleberg draws on nearly four decades of survey data, as well as his own research, to evaluate trends in U.S. job quality and suggest ways to improve American labor market practices and social policies. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs provides an insightful analysis of how and why precarious employment is gaining ground in the labor market and the role these developments have played in the decline of the middle class. Kalleberg shows that by the 1970s, government deregulation, global competition, and the rise of the service sector gained traction, while institutional protections for workers—such as unions and minimum-wage legislation—weakened. Together, these forces marked the end of postwar security for American workers. The composition of the labor force also changed significantly; the number of dual-earner families increased, as did the share of the workforce comprised of women, non-white, and immigrant workers. Of these groups, blacks, Latinos, and immigrants remain concentrated in the most precarious and low-quality jobs, with educational attainment being the leading indicator of who will earn the highest wages and experience the most job security and highest levels of autonomy and control over their jobs and schedules. Kalleberg demonstrates, however, that building a better safety net—increasing government responsibility for worker health care and retirement, as well as strengthening unions—can go a long way toward redressing the effects of today’s volatile labor market. There is every reason to expect that the growth of precarious jobs—which already make up a significant share of the American job market—will continue. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs deftly shows that the decline in U.S. job quality is not the result of fluctuations in the business cycle, but rather the result of economic restructuring and the disappearance of institutional protections for workers. Only government, employers and labor working together on long-term strategies—including an expanded safety net, strengthened legal protections, and better training opportunities—can help reverse this trend. A Volume in the American Sociological Association’s Rose Series in Sociology.

Inequality in the Spanish Labor Market During the COVID-19 Crisis

Inequality in the Spanish Labor Market During the COVID-19 Crisis PDF Author: Ana Lariau
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 27

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Book Description
We analyze the differential impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the Spanish labor market across population groups, as well as its implications for income inequality. The main finding is that young, less educated, and low skilled workers, as well as women are the most affected by the COVID-19 shock in terms of job loss rates. The differential impacts were especially acute at the height of the pandemic in 2020 and remain robust after taking into account the heterogeneity of sector characteristics. Given that these vulnerable groups were positioned in the lower end of the income distribution before the crisis, we hypothesize that income inequality likely has increased due to the pandemic. Policies aiming at reducing inequality in the labor market need to go beyond measures that target the hardest-hit sectors and support the vulnerable groups more directly.

An Approach to Predicting Regional Labor Market Effects of Economic Shocks

An Approach to Predicting Regional Labor Market Effects of Economic Shocks PDF Author: Osborne Jackson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic led state and local governments throughout New England and much of the nation to issue ordinances restricting activity that might otherwise contribute to the spread of the disease. Individuals also freely adjusted their behavior, hoping to reduce the chances of infecting themselves or others. As a result, many employers have experienced substantial reductions in sales revenue, which were expected to generate harmful effects on the labor market. Even though the reversal of mandated policies and voluntary behavior changes are well under way, the initial effects and ongoing public health concerns may extend the time needed for labor market outcomes to improve substantially. This study uses pre-pandemic employment data by occupation and a conceptual framework focused on labor costs to identify the subpopulation most vulnerable to the economic shock and predict layoffs and unemployment in the second quarter of 2020. The analysis allows for the possibility of wage cuts mitigating job losses. Further extensions incorporate indirect effects due to reduced product demand from directly affected workers, as well as offsetting effects of a federal policy response. Predicted second-quarter layoffs and unemployment due to the pandemic vary throughout New England, and such adverse labor market effects tend to be somewhat smaller in the region than in the country as a whole. Additionally, official estimates of unemployment from available second-quarter data fall within the range of predictions, after accounting for plausible measurement error. This approach, which builds on the work of other recent analysis, should be helpful in estimating the regional labor market impact of future economic shocks.

The Effect of a Health and Economic Shock on the Gender, Ethnic and Racial Gap in Labor Market Outcomes

The Effect of a Health and Economic Shock on the Gender, Ethnic and Racial Gap in Labor Market Outcomes PDF Author: Stefani Milovanska-Farrington
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
With more than 29 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the U.S. and 119 million cases worldwide, the pandemic has affected companies, households and the global economy. We explore the effect of this health and economic shock on labor market outcomes, and the changes in labor market disparities between ethnic groups and genders. The results provide evidence of an adverse effect of Covid-19 on labor market outcomes of all demographic groups, a widening gap between the employment prospects of minorities and whites, but no change in the earnings gaps between racial and ethnic groups. We also do not find a deterioration of the differentials between genders. The findings have implications related to the priorities of policy decision makers when implementing policies to combat race and ethnic, and gender gaps in the labor market.