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Substance Abuse during the Pandemic: Implications for Labor-Force Participation

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  • Greenwood, Jeremy
  • Guner, Nezih
  • Kopecky, Karen

Abstract

The labor-force participation rates of prime-age U.S. workers dropped in March 2020---the start of the COVID-19 pandemic---and have still not fully recovered. At the same time, substance-abuse deaths were elevated during the pandemic relative to trend indicating an increase in the number of substance abusers, and abusers of opioids and crystal methamphetamine have lower labor-force participation rates than non-abusers. Could increased substance abuse during the pandemic be a factor contributing to the fall in labor-force participation? Estimates of the number of additional substance abusers during the pandemic presented here suggest that increased substance abuse accounts for between 9 and 26 percent of the decline in prime-age labor-force participation between February 2020 and June 2021.

Suggested Citation

  • Greenwood, Jeremy & Guner, Nezih & Kopecky, Karen, 2022. "Substance Abuse during the Pandemic: Implications for Labor-Force Participation," CEPR Discussion Papers 17137, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17137
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    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Francesco Chiocchio & Jeremy Greenwood & Nezih Guner & Karen Kopecky, 2025. "Opioids and Post-COVID Labor-Force Participation," NBER Working Papers 33717, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Jeremy Greenwood & Nezih Guner & Karen A. Kopecky, 2022. "The Downward Spiral," NBER Working Papers 29764, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Charles Ka Yui LEUNG, 2022. "Housing and Macroeconomics," ISER Discussion Paper 1197, Institute of Social and Economic Research, The University of Osaka.
    5. Mary A. Burke & Katherine Grace Carman & Riley Sullivan & Hefei Wen & James Frank Wharam & Hao Yu, 2022. "Employment Trajectories among Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder: Can Evidence-Based Treatment Improve Outcomes?," Working Papers 22-25, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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