A New Perspective from Time Use Research on the Effects of Lockdown on COVID-19 Behavioral Infection Risk

Jonathan I. Gershuny (), Oriel Sullivan, Almudena Sevilla (), Marga Vega-Rapun, Francesca Foliano, Juana Lamote de Grignon, Teresa Harms and Pierre Walthery
Additional contact information
Jonathan I. Gershuny: University of Oxford
Oriel Sullivan: University College London
Almudena Sevilla: London School of Economics
Marga Vega-Rapun: University College London
Juana Lamote de Grignon: University College London
Teresa Harms: University College London
Pierre Walthery: University College London

No 13599, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We present findings from the first two waves of an innovative, population-representative, UK time-use diary survey conducted both pre- and mid-lockdown, using an online diary instrument that proved both reliable and quick-to-field. Combining diary information on activity, location, and co-presence to estimate infection risks associated with daily behavior, we show clear changes in such behavior related to infection risk between the pre- and mid-lockdown periods: a substantial reduction of time spent in those behaviors with the highest levels of risk, accompanied by an equivalent increase in low-risk behavior. Because, in general, a populations' time use changes relatively slowly, the behavioral changes revealed may be interpreted directly as a consequence of the UK COVID-19 'lockdown' regulations. Subsequent waves will reveal the behavioral consequences of future changes in regulation.

Keywords: COVID-19; infection; behavioural risk; time-use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 J10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 14 pages
Date: 2020-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published as 'A new perspective from time use research on the effects of social restrictions on COVID-19 behavioral infection risk ' in: PLoS ONE, 2021, 16 (2), e0245551

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp13599.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13599

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().