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Covid-19 and Mental Health Deterioration among BAME Groups in the UK

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  • Eugenio Proto
  • Climent Quintana-Domeque

Abstract

We use the UK Household Longitudinal Study and compare pre- (2017-2019) and post-Covid-19 data (April 2020) for the same group of individuals to assess and quantify changes in mental health among ethnic groups in the UK. We confirm the previously documented average deterioration in mental health for the whole sample of individuals interviewed pre- and post-Covid-19, and uncover four new facts. First, ethnicity predicts mental health deterioration when interacted with gender. Among men, BAME individuals experience a higher deterioration in mental health compared to British White individuals. However, among women, the deterioration in mental health is similar for both BAME and British White individuals. Second, the gender gap in mental health deterioration is only present among British White individuals and not among BAME individuals. Third, the drop in mental health among women and BAME men is very similar. Finally, there is substantial heterogeneity across BAME groups. The BAME group of Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani appears to be driving the difference in the gender gap in mental health deterioration between British White and BAME individuals. We call for additional research on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic across different ethnic groups, and urge both policy makers and researchers to allocate resources to collect larger sample sizes of minority ethnic groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Eugenio Proto & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2020. "Covid-19 and Mental Health Deterioration among BAME Groups in the UK," CESifo Working Paper Series 8449, CESifo.
  • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8449
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Adams-Prassl, A. & Boneva, T. & Golin, M & Rauh, C., 2020. "The Impact of the Coronavirus Lockdown on Mental Health: Evidence from the US," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2037, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    2. Eugenio Proto, 2016. "Are happy workers more productive?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 315-315, November.
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    4. Davillas, Apostolos & M. Jones, Andrew, 2020. "The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on inequality of opportunity in psychological distress in the UK," ISER Working Paper Series 2020-07, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    5. James Banks & Xiaowei Xu, 2020. "The Mental Health Effects of the First Two Months of Lockdown during the COVID‐19 Pandemic in the UK," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 685-708, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Oreffice, Sonia & Quintana-Domeque, Climent, 2021. "Gender inequality in COVID-19 times: evidence from UK prolific participants," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 261-287, June.
    2. Francesco Fasani & Jacopo Mazza, 2023. "Being on the Frontline? Immigrant Workers in Europe and the COVID-19 Pandemic," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(5), pages 890-918, October.
    3. Giuntella, Osea & Hyde, Kelly & Saccardo, Silvia & Sadoff, Sally, 2020. "Lifestyle and Mental Health Disruptions during COVID-19," IZA Discussion Papers 13569, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Apostolos Davillas & Andrew M Jones, 2021. "The first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic and its impact on socioeconomic inequality in psychological distress in the UK," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1668-1683, July.
    5. Chan, Ho Fai & Cheng, Zhiming & Mendolia, Silvia & Paloyo, Alfredo R. & Tani, Massimiliano & Proulx, Damon & Savage, David & Torgler, Benno, 2022. "Societal Movement Restrictions and Adverse Mental Health Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 15111, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Farzana Afridi & Amrita Dhillon & Sanchari Roy, 2021. "The gendered crisis: livelihoods and mental well-being in India during COVID-19," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-65, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Barili, Emilia & Grembi, Veronica & Rosso, Anna C., 2023. "Mental health between present issues and future expectations," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 42-48.
    8. Anaya, L. & Howley, P. & Waqas, M. & Yalonetzky, G., 2021. "Locked down in distress: a causal estimation of the mental-health fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 21/10, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    9. Bryan, Mark & Bryce, Andrew & Rice, Nigel & Roberts, Jennifer & Sechel, Cristina, 2022. "Exploring mental health disability gaps in the labour market: the UK experience during COVID-19," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    10. Burdett, Ashley & Etheridge, Ben & Spantig, Lisa, 2020. "Weather affects mobility but not mental well-being during lockdown," ISER Working Paper Series 2020-13, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    11. Onur Altindag & Bilge Erten & Pinar Keskin, 2022. "Mental Health Costs of Lockdowns: Evidence from Age-Specific Curfews in Turkey," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 320-343, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    GHQ-12; wellbeing; mental health; mental distress; ethnicity; gender;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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