Dr. Christopher Rauh has just published two working papers looking at the economic impacts of COVID-19 on workers in the UK and US. The papers are joint with former Faculty of Economics PhD student Teodora Boneva (University of Zurich), Abi Adams-Prassl (University of Oxford) and Marta Golin (University of Oxford).
COVID-19 is not only a global health pandemic; it has brought whole economies grinding to a halt. In order to gain an understanding about the impact this has on workers, we conducted geographically representative surveys of workers in the US and UK on March 24th and 25th, respectively.
We find that, at the time of the survey, about one in ten UK workers already had lost their job due to the spread of the virus. Most of those that were still working were working less, earning less, and expecting their individual situations to worsen further in the next months. The average expected probability of having problems to cover usual bills was 56% in the US and 49% in the UK.
US
UK
These negative impacts are not equally spread across the working population. Our evidence suggests that this downturn is highly likely to increase inequality across the income distribution, between young and old, and between those on insecure and secure contracts. Besides the immediate pressure on household to cover their bills, policy must also consider the long-term consequences. Preventing this shock from having permanent effects on the employment progression of the younger generation and the less-economically advantaged is imperative.
Read the papers in full:
Published Papers
Inequality in the Impact of the Coronavirus Shock: Evidence from Real Time Surveys, Abi Adams-Prassl, Teodora Boneva, Marta Golin, and Christopher Rauh, Journal of Public Economics, (2020), vol. 189.
Working Papers
Inequality in the Impact of the Coronavirus Shock: New Survey Evidence for the US, Abi Adams-Prassl, Teodora Boneva, Marta Golin, and Christopher Rauh (Cambridge-INET Working Paper 2009).
Inequality in the Impact of the Coronavirus Shock: New Survey Evidence for the UK, Abi Adams-Prassl, Teodora Boneva, Marta Golin, and Christopher Rauh (Cambridge-INET Working Paper 2010).
Inequality in the Impact of the Coronavirus Shock: Evidence from Real Time Surveys, Abi Adams-Prassl, Teodora Boneva, Marta Golin, and Christopher Rauh (Cambridge-INET Working Paper 2018).
The Impact of the Coronavirus Lockdown on Mental Health: Evidence from the US, Abi Adams-Prassl, Teodora Boneva, Marta Golin, and Christopher Rauh (Cambridge-INET Working Paper 2021).
Dr. Rauh's research was featured in the following media outlets:
University of Cambridge Research News
Quartz - 8th May
Quartz - 22nd May
BBC 5 Live Radio (2h mark)
In a recent interview with Dr. Toke Aidt, Dr. Christopher Rauh discusses the Economic Inequality in the Impact of the Coronavirus Shock. Watch the video below.
Dr. Rauh took part in the Centre for Science and Policy's Science, Policy & Pandemics Podcast, where along with Dr. Meredith Crowley, they explored the implications of the COVID-19 shock for international trade and labour market inequalities, with a focus on the UK context. Watch the video below.
About the author
Dr. Christopher Rauh is a University Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge. His research interests are in Macroeconomics, Political Economy, Labour Economics.
