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Long Social Distancing

Author

Listed:
  • Jose Maria Barrero
  • Nicholas Bloom
  • Steven J. Davis

Abstract

Many Americans continued some forms of social distancing after the pandemic. This phenomenon is stronger among older persons, less educated individuals, and those who interact daily with persons at high risk from infectious diseases. Regression models fit to individual-level data suggest that social distancing lowered labor force participation by 2.4 percentage points in 2022, 1.2 points on an earnings-weighted basis. When combined with simple equilibrium models, our results imply that the social distancing drag on participation reduced US output by $205 billion in 2022, shrank the college wage premium by 2.1 percentage points, and modestly steepened the cross-sectional age-wage profile.

Suggested Citation

  • Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2023. "Long Social Distancing," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(S1), pages 129-172.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/726636
    DOI: 10.1086/726636
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Asako Chiba & Shunsuke Hori & Taisuke Nakata, 2025. "Quarantine and Its Scar on Labor," CARF F-Series CARF-F-595, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    2. Schroeter, Sofia & Lalive, Rafael & Karunanethy, Kalaivani, 2024. "School Closures and Parental Labor Supply: Differential Effects of Anticipated and Unanticipated Closures," IZA Discussion Papers 17371, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Asako Chiba & Kazuya Haganuma & Taisuke Nakata & Thuy Linh Nguyen & Reo Takaku, 2026. "COVID-19 Risk Perceptions After the End of the Public Health Emergency," CARF F-Series CARF-F-621, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    4. Asako Chiba & Kazuya Haganuma & Taisuke Nakata & Thuy Linh Nguyen & Reo Takaku, 2026. "COVID-19 Risk Perceptions After the End of the Public Health Emergency," Working Papers e224, Tokyo Center for Economic Research.
    5. Kurozumi, Takushi & Van Zandweghe, Willem, 2025. "Supply shocks, employment gap, and monetary policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    6. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Katelyn Cranney & Steven J. Davis & Mathias Dolls & Pablo Zarate, 2026. "Work from Home and Fertility," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 839, Asian Development Bank.
    7. Kei Shimazawa & Reo Takaku & Taisuke Nakata, 2025. "Uneven Normalization from the COVID-19 Crisis: Evidence from a Mask Survey in Japan," CARF F-Series CARF-F-611, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    8. Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia & Victoria Vernon, 2025. "Remote work, wages, and hours worked in the United States," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-49, March.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

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