New evidence on the health and employment effects of non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 interventions on workers in the United States

Ege Aksu, Prabal K. De () and Laxman Timilsina
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Ege Aksu: The Graduate Center
Prabal K. De: City College and The Graduate Center
Laxman Timilsina: Connecticut College

Empirical Economics, 2024, vol. 67, issue 6, No 10, 2819 pages

Abstract: Abstract We provide new evidence on the economic and health impacts of government- mandated non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from labor force participation, unemployment, and hours worked, we provide novel results on work absence due to illness. We also examine the heterogeneity of these results by demographic and employment groups. We use recent innovations in the difference-in-differences methodology to capture the dynamic effects of these orders that were staggered in nature. Our findings show that states’ social distancing measures increased unemployment and lowered labor market participation and hours worked. The adverse labor market effects were more pronounced for single parents and those working non-teleworkable jobs. We find some evidence that workers’ health improved as absence from work due to illness significantly decreased, suggesting that NPIs protected many vulnerable workers.

Keywords: COVID-19; Labor market; Worker health; Public policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I18 J21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s00181-024-02631-x

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