The impact of the coronavirus lockdown on mental health: evidence from the United States. (9th January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Adams-Prassl, Abi; Boneva, Teodora; Golin, Marta; Rauh, Christopher
• Is Part Of: Economic policy. Volume 37:Number 109(2022)
• Page Start: 139
• Page End: 155
• Publication Date: 2022-01-09
• Subjects: I10 -- I14 -- I18 -- I30; Economic policy -- Periodicals; 338.94
• DOI: 10.1093/epolic/eiac002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0266-4658

Abstract

Abstract: The coronavirus outbreak has caused significant disruptions to people's lives. We exploit variation in lockdown measures across states to document the impact of stay-at-home orders on mental health using real-time survey data in the United States. We find that the lockdown measures lowered mental health by 0.083 standard deviations. This large negative effect is entirely driven by women. As a result of the lockdown measures, the existing gender gap in mental health has increased by 61%. The negative effect on women's mental health cannot be explained by an increase in financial worries or caring responsibilities.