Lockdowns, Loneliness and Life Satisfaction

Daniel Hamermesh

No 13140, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Using the 2012-13 American Time Use Survey, I find that both who people spend time with and how they spend it affect their happiness, adjusted for numerous demographic and economic variables. Satisfaction among married individuals increases most with additional time spent with spouse. Among singles, satisfaction decreases most as more time is spent alone. Assuming that lockdowns constrain married people to spend time solely with their spouses, simulations show that their happiness may have been increased compared to before the lockdowns; but sufficiently large losses of work time and income reverse this inference. Simulations demonstrate clearly that, assuming lockdowns impose solitude on singles, their happiness was reduced, reductions that are made more severe by income and work losses.

Keywords: Coronavirus; time use; happiness; isolation; well-being; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I31 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2020-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap, nep-lma and nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

Published - published as 'Life satisfaction, loneliness and togetherness, with an application to Covid-19 lock-downs' in: Review of Economics of the Household, 2020, 18, 983 - 1000

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Working Paper: Lock-downs, Loneliness and Life Satisfaction (2020)
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