Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/272540 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15913
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We study the impact of work loss on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Combining data on work loss and health care consultations from comprehensive individual-level register data, we define groups of employees delineated by industry, region, age, and gender. With these groups, we use a difference-in-differences framework to document significantly increased rates of consultations for psychological conditions among workers with higher exposure to work loss. The increases, and their persistence, were markedly higher for consultations in specialist (vs. primary) care, indicating that the deterioration of mental health was more than a widespread increase in lighter symptoms. Overall, our findings suggest that the economic disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the mental health of workers most exposed to loss of work.
Subjects: 
COVID-19
layoffs
work loss
job loss
mental health
JEL: 
I12
I14
I18
J65
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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