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Women in Distress: Mental Health and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Emilia Barili

    (University of Genoa)

  • Veronica Grembi

    (University of Milan)

  • Anna Rosso

    (University of Milan)

Abstract

Relying on a survey of more than 4,000 female respondents, we investigate the main determinants of women's mental distress during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. We focus on two groups of variables to capture both the health and the economic emergency: present concerns and future expectations. Our results show that the main predictors of mental health are future expectations, such as the fear of losing a job, which is more relevant than concerns related to the spread of the virus. Younger women (less than 35), those lacking a high school degree, and those working in education or in remote work with school-aged children are in most distress. Using a panel fixed effects model that includes respondents to a re-call run in February 2021, we show that there was no adjustment to the new normal. Finally, using data on gender norms, we show that where the role of women is conceived in a more traditional way, the level of mental distress as driven by future employment is lower, suggesting that women's expectations for their role in society do play a relevant role in self-assessed well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Emilia Barili & Veronica Grembi & Anna Rosso, 2021. "Women in Distress: Mental Health and the COVID-19 Pandemic," Development Working Papers 470, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    • Handle: RePEc:csl:devewp:470
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    Cited by:

    1. Bertoni, Marco & Cavapozzi, Danilo & Pasini, Giacomo & Pavese, Caterina, 2021. "Remote Working and Mental Health during the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic," IZA Discussion Papers 14773, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Danilo Cavapozzi, 2022. "The causal impact of remote working on depression during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2022 10, Stata Users Group.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mental health; COVID-19; Expectations; Gender Stereotypes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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