The Importance of Existing Social Protection Programs for Mental Health in Pandemic Times

Using panel data from the Philippines around the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper compares depression rates among beneficiaries of an existing social protection program (a conditional cash transfer program known as the 4Ps) to non-beneficiaries of similar socioeconomic status. Depression rates were low and almost identical for the two groups in late 2019. They increased dramatically for both groups but were significantly lower for 4Ps beneficiaries by July 2020, after the initiation of strict quarantine measures and the distribution of large emergency cash transfers to both groups. The findings suggest that the 4Ps program mattered more for mental health during the crisis, for two possible reasons. First, regular cash support might become more valuable in times of economic hardship and uncertainty. Second, the existing program infrastructure can improve the effectiveness of a government’s crisis response—in this case, by allowing for more timely distribution of emergency cash to those already part of the social protection system.