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Gender, loneliness and happiness during COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Lepinteur, Anthony
  • Clark, Andrew E.
  • Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada
  • Piper, Alan
  • Schröder, Carsten
  • D'Ambrosio, Conchita

Abstract

We analyse a measure of loneliness from a representative sample of German individuals interviewed in both 2017 and at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Both men and women felt lonelier during the COVID-19 pandemic than they did in 2017. The pandemic more than doubled the gender loneliness gap: women were lonelier than men in 2017, and the 2017-2020 rise in loneliness was far larger for women. This rise is mirrored in life-satisfaction scores. Men's life satisfaction changed only little between 2017 and 2020; yet that of women fell dramatically, and sufficiently so to produce a female penalty in life satisfaction. We estimate that almost all of this female penalty is explained by the disproportionate rise in loneliness for women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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  • Lepinteur, Anthony & Clark, Andrew E. & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada & Piper, Alan & Schröder, Carsten & D'Ambrosio, Conchita, 2022. "Gender, loneliness and happiness during COVID-19," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:101:y:2022:i:c:s2214804322001239
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2022.101952
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    Cited by:

    1. Gabriela Mihaela Muresan & Codruta Mare & Dan Tudor Lazar & Sorin Paul Lazar, 2023. "Can Health Insurance Improve the Happiness of the Romanian People?," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 25(64), pages 903-903, August.
    2. Indera Ratna Irawati Pattinasarany, 2024. "Happiness amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia: exploring gender, residence type, and pandemic severity," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Lepinteur, Anthony & Rebechi, Alessio & Clark, Andrew E. & D'Ambrosio, Conchita & Rohde, Nicholas & Vögele, Claus, 2024. "Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Five European Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 17223, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Barjaková, Martina & Garnero, Andrea & d’Hombres, Béatrice, 2023. "Risk factors for loneliness: A literature review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Loneliness; Life satisfaction; Gender; COVID-19; SOEP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

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