Exposure to COVID-19: is there a disproportionate burden on low-paid jobs in France?

Abstract

Although a majority of COVID-19 victims are among the elderly, workers holding low-paid jobs in the essential service sectors and those who are more likely to trade their health for economic reasons may be particularly exposed. Our aim is to gather existing data suggesting a disproportionate burden of the epidemic on the lower income categories.We focus on the situation of France, which has been hard hit. Workers highly exposed to the risk of COVID-19 infection are those who routinely have close face-to-face contacts with the public/colleagues, and/or exposure to infectious agents. Prior knowledge on usual working conditions can help us highlight at-risk occupations and related risks outside the work environment during the epidemic. We analysed national data on working conditions (CT2013), exposure to occupational hazards (SUMER2017) and a flash survey conducted during the lockdown.Before the lockdown (mid-March 2020), at least 8.8 million of workers were highly exposed to Covid-19 in France. There were however sharp disparities across occupational groups. As high as 41% of the bottom quarter of earners belonged to the highly exposed group, as opposed to 12% of the top quarter of earners. Apart from health care workers and first responders, other frontline workers with low-pay such as cleaners, personal aids and cashiers are among the most exposed. The situation has yet changed during the lockdown, with teleworking, reduced hours/layoffs, and type and timing of protective measures taken by employers. Lower salary workers have been highly exposed to the risk of COVID-19 infection. They may carry a heavy health burden related to the current crisis, especially when not sufficiently protected. Their occupational risks are further compounded by their transportation and housing conditions, along with comorbidities and access to healthcare. This lays ground to greater spread and severity of the disease among working-age and older working-class adults.