Abstract

To examine how long COVID is associated with financial hardship (food insecurity, inability to pay bills, or threat of losing service) across income and education levels, and to assess the role of employment loss or reduced work hours in this hardship. We used nationally representative data on 271,076 adults from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). We used multivariable binomial logistic regression models to estimate the average marginal effect of long COVID on financial hardships across multiple income and education groups. In general, we found a significant positive association between long COVID and the three measures of financial hardships across income and education groups (1-11 percentage points increase, 95% CI 0.00-0.02 and 0.07-0.14, respectively). Mediation analysis showed that lost or reduced hours of employment accounted for a significant portion (6%-20%) of the changes in financial distress. Long COVID has affected the economic wellbeing of people from all socioeconomic statuses, although at a higher rate for lower income groups. Policy attention is needed to address its economic impacts across income and education levels.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.