Evidence from Empirical Studies: Which Groups of Individuals Experience More Severe Income Hardship Due to COVID-19 Infection?

Abstract

There is a lack of evidence on whether a pandemic exacerbates economic inequalities among disadvantaged groups. This study examined whether the income of single households was affected by sample adults who were infected with COVID-19. I used NHIS data, compared the average income between infected sample adults and uninfected for each of the sub-groups, and constructed the difference in the difference graph based on the mean value. Also, using a difference-in-difference model to confirm statistically significant differences in mean income between the different groups. The results show that full-time sample adults infected with COVID-19 have significantly lower incomes than those uninfected; the sample adults with hypertension, low education, or non-metropolitan residents groups, who were not infected with COVID-19 were the most disadvantaged financially. The main reason for these unexpected results may be that the unemployment of infected persons instead qualifies them for high benefits.