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The impact of the COVID-19 shock on labour income inequality: evidence from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Francesca Carta

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Marta De Philippis

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

The spread of the pandemic and the consequent adoption of lockdown measures to prevent infections had severe consequences for business activity and employment. By using data from the Italian Labour Force Survey, this paper simulates the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on the dynamics and distribution of equivalized labour income in the first two quarters of 2020. Moreover, it assesses the effectiveness in smoothing labour income losses of the social insurance benefits that were in place before the crisis and of the temporary measures adopted by the Italian Government to face it. We find that the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 shock impacted low-income households more heavily than higher income families, implying a substantial increase in labour income inequality. However, our results show that the social insurance benefits temporarily introduced by the Italian Government were able, at least in the short term, to compensate for these income losses and for the increased inequality significantly more than the pre-crisis measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Carta & Marta De Philippis, 2021. "The impact of the COVID-19 shock on labour income inequality: evidence from Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 606, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_606_21
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    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/qef/2021-0606/QEF_606_21.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labour market; inequality; social insurance benefits; recessions; coronavirus; Covid-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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