A Tale of Two Pandemics: Economic Inequality and Support for Containment Measures in Peru

Miguel Carreras,Sofia Vera,Giancarlo Visconti

doi:10.1177/1866802x211035393

Abstract

Research suggests that the coronavirus pandemic disproportionately affected poor communities. However, relatively little is known about how this differential impact affected support for, and compliance with, COVID-19 lockdown policies. This article examines the relationship between socioeconomic inequalities and public opinion towards COVID-19 containment measures in Peru. Despite the strict quarantine measures adopted by the government of Peru, the country struggled to contain the spread of the disease. We designed and implemented a nationally representative survey in Peru and found that economically vulnerable sectors are more likely to oppose the quarantine and are more likely to defy the stay-at-home recommendations to leave home and go to work. Our contribution highlights that poor citizens’ housing and economic conditions can explain why the poor are more likely to react negatively to COVID-19 lockdown policies.

Highlights

In the early days of the pandemic, the COVID-19 disease was sometimes described as an “equal opportunity offender” (Bainbridge, 2020) because people of all backgrounds could be infected and wealthy countries could suffer large outbreaks
We study the differential impact of COVID-19 in the developing world by focusing on the case of Peru, a Latin American country that suffered one of the worst outbreaks in the world
We argue that Peruvians reacted to COVID-19 containment measures by considering the costs and benefits associated with those measures for them and for their families

Summary

Introduction

In the early days of the pandemic, the COVID-19 disease was sometimes described as an “equal opportunity offender” (Bainbridge, 2020) because people of all backgrounds could be infected and wealthy countries could suffer large outbreaks. The nature of these socioeconomic inequalities in Peru, we will argue, results in vastly different attitudes and behaviours towards the COVID-19 policies adopted by the Peruvian government. The result is that lockdown measures adopted to fight the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to extreme poverty and hunger among these fragile sectors of the population We argue that these material considerations shape the attitudes of vulnerable economic groups towards quarantine measures. This unexpected finding is probably due to the fact that religiosity is stronger among poor citizens (Herzer and Strulik, 2017)

Discussion and Conclusion

Findings

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