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COVID-19 and Unequal Social Distancing across Demographic Groups

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  • Hakan Yilmazkuday

    (Department of Economics, Florida International University)

Abstract

This paper analyzes whether social distancing experienced by alternative demographic groups within the U.S. has been different amid COVID-19. The formal investigation is achieved by using daily state-level mobility data from the U.S. covering information on the demographic categories of income, education and race/ethnicity. The results show that social distancing has been experienced more by higher-income, higher-educated or Asian people after the declaration of National Emergency on March 13th, 2020. Since alternative demographic groups were subject to alternative employment opportunities during this period (e.g., due to being able to work from home), it is implied that COVID-19 has redistributive effects that require demographic-group specific policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Hakan Yilmazkuday, 2020. "COVID-19 and Unequal Social Distancing across Demographic Groups," Working Papers 2006, Florida International University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:fiu:wpaper:2006
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    File URL: https://economics.fiu.edu/research/pdfs/2020_working_papers/2006.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Victor Couture & Jonathan Dingel & Allison Green & Jessie Handbury & Kevin Williams, 2020. "Measuring Movement and Social Contact with Smartphone Data: A Real-Time Application to COVID-19," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 35, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    2. Lili Li & Araz Taeihagh & Si Ying Tan, 2023. "A scoping review of the impacts of COVID-19 physical distancing measures on vulnerable population groups," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Hakan Yilmazkuday, 2021. "Changes in Consumption in the Early COVID-19 Era: Zip-Code Level Evidence from the U.S," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-10, October.
    4. Couture, Victor & Dingel, Jonathan I. & Green, Allison & Handbury, Jessie & Williams, Kevin R., 2022. "JUE Insight: Measuring movement and social contact with smartphone data: a real-time application to COVID-19," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    5. Bisin, Alberto & Moro, Andrea, 2022. "JUE insight: Learning epidemiology by doing: The empirical implications of a Spatial-SIR model with behavioral responses," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Coronavirus; Social Distancing; Demographics; Income; Education; Race;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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