IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/psewpa/halshs-03230629.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Fall in Income Inequality during COVID-19 in Four European Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew E. Clark

    (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

  • Conchita d'Ambrosio

    (uni.lu - Université du Luxembourg = University of Luxembourg = Universität Luxemburg)

  • Anthony Lepinteur

    (uni.lu - Université du Luxembourg = University of Luxembourg = Universität Luxemburg)

Abstract

We here use panel data from the COME-HERE survey to track income inequality during COVID-19 in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Relative inequality in equivalent household disposable income among individuals changed in a hump-shaped way between January 2020 and January 2021, with an initial rise from January to May 2020 being more than reversed by September 2020. Absolute inequality also fell over this period. Due to the pandemic some households lost more than others, and government compensation schemes were targeted towards the poorest, implying that on average income differences decreased. Generalized Lorenz domination reveals that these distributive changes reduced welfare in Italy.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew E. Clark & Conchita d'Ambrosio & Anthony Lepinteur, 2021. "The Fall in Income Inequality during COVID-19 in Four European Countries," PSE Working Papers halshs-03230629, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-03230629
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03230629v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03230629v1/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brodeur, Abel & Clark, Andrew E. & Fleche, Sarah & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2021. "COVID-19, lockdowns and well-being: Evidence from Google Trends," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    2. Layard, Richard & Clark, Andrew E. & De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel & Krekel, Christian & Fancourt, Daisy & Hey, Nancy & O'Donnell, Gus, 2020. "When to release the lockdown: a wellbeing framework for analysing costs and benefits," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 104276, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Adams-Prassl, A. & Boneva, T. & Golin, M & Rauh, C., 2020. "Inequality in the Impact of the Coronavirus Shock: New Survey Evidence for the UK," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2023, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    4. Jinjing Li & Yogi Vidyattama & Hai Anh La & Riyana Miranti & Denisa M Sologon, 2020. "The Impact of COVID-19 and Policy Responses on Australian Income Distribution and Poverty," Papers 2009.04037, arXiv.org.
    5. Béland, Louis-Philippe & Brodeur, Abel & Wright, Taylor, 2020. "The Short-Term Economic Consequences of COVID-19: Exposure to Disease, Remote Work and Government Response," GLO Discussion Paper Series 524, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Vanda Almeida & Salvador Barrios & Michael Christl & Silvia Poli & Alberto Tumino & Wouter Wielen, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 on households´ income in the EU," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(3), pages 413-431, September.
    7. Markus M. Grabka, 2021. "Income Inequality in Germany Stagnating over the Long Term, But Decreasing Slightly during the Coronavirus Pandemic," DIW Weekly Report, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 11(17/18), pages 125-133.
    8. Fang, Hanming & Wang, Long & Yang, Yang, 2020. "Human mobility restrictions and the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    9. Lidia Farré & Yarine Fawaz & Libertad González Luna & Jennifer Graves, 2020. "How the covid-19 lockdown affected gender Inequality in paid and unpaid work in Spain," Economics Working Papers 1728, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    10. Adams-Prassl, Abi & Boneva, Teodora & Golin, Marta & Rauh, Christopher, 2020. "Inequality in the impact of the coronavirus shock: Evidence from real time surveys," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    11. Palomino, Juan C. & Rodríguez, Juan G. & Sebastian, Raquel, 2020. "Wage inequality and poverty effects of lockdown and social distancing in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    12. Frank A. Cowell & Fatemeh Mehta, 1982. "The Estimation and Interpolation of Inequality Measures," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 49(2), pages 273-290.
    13. Cathal O'Donoghue & Denisa M. Sologon & Iryna Kyzyma & John McHale, 2020. "Modelling the Distributional Impact of the COVID‐19 Crisis," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 321-336, June.
    14. Mike Brewer & Laura Gardiner, 2020. "The initial impact of COVID-19 and policy responses on household incomes," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 187-199.
    15. Nicolas Bottan & Bridget Hoffmann & Diego Vera-Cossio, 2020. "The unequal impact of the coronavirus pandemic: Evidence from seventeen developing countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-10, October.
    16. repec:bla:econom:v:50:y:1983:i:197:p:3-17 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Mike Brewer & Iva Valentinova Tasseva, 2021. "Did the UK policy response to Covid-19 protect household incomes?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(3), pages 433-458, September.
    18. Guven, Cahit & Sotirakopoulos, Panagiotis & Ulker, Aydogan, 2020. "Short-term Labour Market Effects of COVID-19 and the Associated National Lockdown in Australia: Evidence from Longitudinal Labour Force Survey," GLO Discussion Paper Series 635, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    19. Layard, Richard & Clark, Andrew E. & De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel & Krekel, Christian & Fancourt, Daisy & Hey, Nancy & O'Donnell, Gus, 2020. "When to release the lockdown: a wellbeing framework for analysing costs and benefits," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 104276, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Michele Belot & Syngjoo Choi & Egon Tripodi & Eline van den Broek-Altenburg & Julian C. Jamison & Nicholas W. Papageorge, 2020. "Unequal Consequences of Covid 19 across Age and Income: Representative Evidence from Six Countries," Working Paper Series no135, Institute of Economic Research, Seoul National University.
    21. Michèle Belot & Syngjoo Choi & Egon Tripodi & Eline van den Broek-Altenburg & Julian C. Jamison & Nicholas W. Papageorge, 2021. "Unequal consequences of Covid 19: representative evidence from six countries," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 769-783, September.
    22. Luca Bonacini & Giovanni Gallo & Sergio Scicchitano, 2021. "Working from home and income inequality: risks of a ‘new normal’ with COVID-19," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 303-360, January.
    23. Mike Brewer & Laura Gardiner, 0. "The initial impact of COVID-19 and policy responses on household incomes," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 187-199.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mahler,Daniel Gerszon & Yonzan,Nishant & Lakner,Christoph, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Global Inequality and Poverty," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10198, The World Bank.
    2. Andrew Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio & Anthony Lepinteur & Giorgia Menta, 2022. "Pandemic Policy and Individual Income Changes across Europe," Working Papers 600, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    3. Zimpelmann, Christian & Gaudecker, Hans-Martin von & Holler, Radost & Janys, Lena & Siflinger, Bettina, 2021. "Hours and income dynamics during the Covid-19 pandemic: The case of the Netherlands," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Adermon, Adrian & Laun, Lisa & Lind, Patrik & Olsson, Martin & Sauermann, Jan & Sjögren , Anna, 2022. "Earnings losses and the role of the welfare state during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Sweden," Working Paper Series 2022:20, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    5. Astarita, Caterina & Alcidi, Cinzia, 2022. "Did the COVID-19 pandemic impact income distribution?," MPRA Paper 113851, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Waldenström, Daniel & Angelov, Nikolay, 2021. "COVID-19 and Income Inequality: Evidence from Monthly Population Registers," Working Paper Series 1396, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    7. Sangyup Choi & Jeeyeon Phi, 2022. "Impact of Uncertainty Shocks on Income and Wealth Inequality," Working papers 2022rwp-196, Yonsei University, Yonsei Economics Research Institute.
    8. Dorn, Florian & Lange, Berit & Braml, Martin & Gstrein, David & Nyirenda, John L.Z. & Vanella, Patrizio & Winter, Joachim & Fuest, Clemens & Krause, Gérard, 2023. "The challenge of estimating the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 interventions – Toward an integrated economic and epidemiological approach," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    9. Amarante, Verónica, 2022. "Fortalecimiento de los sistemas de protección social de la región: aprendizajes a partir de la pandemia de COVID-19," Documentos de Proyectos 47830, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    10. Andrej Cupak & Judita Jurašeková Kucserová & Ján Klacso & Anna Strachotová, 2023. "Household Finance and Consumption Survey 2021: Results from Slovakia," Working and Discussion Papers OP 2/2023, Research Department, National Bank of Slovakia.
    11. Federica Alfani & Fabio Clementi & Michele Fabiani & Vasco Molini & Francesco Schettino, 2024. "Underestimating the Pandemic: The Impact of COVID-19 on Income Distribution in the U.S. and Brazil," Economies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-32, September.
    12. Schettino, Francesco & Scicchitano, Sergio & Suppa, Domenico, 2024. "COVID 19 and Wage Polarization: A task based approach," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1398, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. Alina CIUREA (MECA), 2022. "Impact of European Union Social Policy during Pandemic on Household Income," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 3, pages 117-124.
    14. A. Tidu, 2023. "Dissecting inequality: conceptual problems, trends and drivers," Working Paper CRENoS 202313, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    15. Narayan,Ambar & Cojocaru,Alexandru & Agrawal,Sarthak & Bundervoet,Tom & Davalos,Maria Eugenia & Garcia,Natalia & Lakner,Christoph & Mahler,Daniel Gerszon & Montalva Talledo,Veronica Sonia & Ten,Andrey, 2022. "COVID-19 and Economic Inequality : Short-Term Impacts with Long-Term Consequences," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9902, The World Bank.
    16. Braband, Carsten & Consiglio, Valentina Sara & Grabka, Markus M. & Hainbach, Natascha & Königs, Sebastian, 2022. "Disparities in Labour Market and Income Trends during the First Year of the COVID-19 Crisis – Evidence from Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 15475, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Giovanni Gallo & Silvia Granato & michele Raitano, 2022. "Heterogeneous effects of the Covid-19 crisis on Italian workers’ incomes: the role played by jobs routinization and teleworkability," Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) 0180, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    18. Vincenzo Salvucci & Finn Tarp, 2024. "Assessing the Impact of Covid-19 in Mozambique in 2020," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(4), pages 803-840, August.
    19. Carmen Aina & Irene Brunetti & Chiara Mussida & Sergio Scicchitano, 2023. "Distributional effects of COVID-19," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(1), pages 221-256, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio & Anthony Lepinteur, 2020. "The Fall in Income Inequality during COVID-19 in Five European Countries," Working Papers 565, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    2. Andrew E. Clark & Anthony Lepinteur, 2022. "Pandemic Policy and Life Satisfaction in Europe," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(2), pages 393-408, June.
    3. Olga Cantó & Francesco Figari & Carlo V. Fiorio & Sarah Kuypers & Sarah Marchal & Marina Romaguera‐de‐la‐Cruz & Iva V. Tasseva & Gerlinde Verbist, 2022. "Welfare Resilience at the Onset of COVID‐19 Pandemic in a Selection of European Countries: Impact on Public Finance and Household Incomes," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(2), pages 293-322, June.
    4. Andrew Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio & Anthony Lepinteur & Giorgia Menta, 2022. "Pandemic Policy and Individual Income Changes across Europe," Working Papers 600, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    5. Michael Christl & Silvia De Poli & Dénes Kucsera & Hanno Lorenz, 2022. "COVID-19 and (gender) inequality in income: the impact of discretionary policy measures in Austria," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 158(1), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Stefanie Stantcheva, 2022. "Inequalities in the times of a pandemic," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 37(109), pages 5-41.
    7. Borja Gambau & Juan C. Palomino & Juan G. Rodríguez & Raquel Sebastian, 2022. "COVID-19 restrictions in the US: wage vulnerability by education, race and gender," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(25), pages 2900-2915, May.
    8. Denisa M. Sologon & Cathal O’Donoghue & Iryna Kyzyma & Jinjing Li & Jules Linden & Raymond Wagener, 2022. "The COVID-19 resilience of a continental welfare regime - nowcasting the distributional impact of the crisis," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(4), pages 777-809, December.
    9. Valentinova Tasseva, Iva & Cantó-Sánchez, Olga & Figari, Francesco & Fiorio, Carlo & Kuypers, Sarah & Marchal, Sarah & Romaguera de la Cruz, Marina & Verbist, Gerlinde, 2021. "Welfare resilience at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in a selection of European countries: impact on public finance and household incomes," Centre for Microsimulation and Policy Analysis Working Paper Series CEMPA5/21, Centre for Microsimulation and Policy Analysis at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    10. A. Cetrulo & D. Guarascio & M. E. Virgillito, 2022. "Working from home and the explosion of enduring divides: income, employment and safety risks," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(2), pages 345-402, July.
    11. Astarita, Caterina & Alcidi, Cinzia, 2022. "Did the COVID-19 pandemic impact income distribution?," MPRA Paper 113851, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Brodeur, Abel & Clark, Andrew E. & Fleche, Sarah & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2021. "COVID-19, lockdowns and well-being: Evidence from Google Trends," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    13. Sonia OREFICCE & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2021. "Gender inequality in COVID-19 times: evidence from UK prolific participants," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 261-287, June.
    14. Vanda Almeida & Salvador Barrios & Michael Christl & Silvia Poli & Alberto Tumino & Wouter Wielen, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 on households´ income in the EU," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(3), pages 413-431, September.
    15. Kerstin Bruckmeier & Andreas Peichl & Martin Popp & Jürgen Wiemers & Timo Wollmershäuser, 2021. "Distributional effects of macroeconomic shocks in real-time," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(3), pages 459-487, September.
    16. Crossley, Thomas F. & Fisher, Paul & Low, Hamish, 2021. "The heterogeneous and regressive consequences of COVID-19: Evidence from high quality panel data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    17. Jun Hyung Kim & Yu Kyung Koh & Jinseong Park, 2023. "Mental Health Consequences of Working from Home during the Pandemic," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(1), pages 18-50, January.
    18. Alessandra Casarico & Salvatore Lattanzio, 2022. "The heterogeneous effects of COVID-19 on labor market flows: evidence from administrative data," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(3), pages 537-558, September.
    19. Carlos Díaz & Sebastian Fossati & Nicolás Trajtenberg, 2022. "Stay at home if you can: COVID‐19 stay‐at‐home guidelines and local crime," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 1067-1113, December.
    20. Thomas F Crossley & Paul Fisher & Hamish Low & Peter Levell, 2023. "A year of COVID: the evolution of labour market and financial inequalities through the crisis," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(3), pages 589-612.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COME-HERE; COVID-19; Income Inequality COME-HERE; Income Inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-03230629. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.