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The unequal(?) burden of unemployment in Sweden during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

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  • Eliason, Marcus

    (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy)

Abstract

The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures enforced to combat it have led to a decline in economic activity unprecedented since the Great Depression. Worldwide, millions, and yet millions, of people have lost their jobs–either temporarily or permanently. At first, the COVID-19 pandemic was characterised as a leveller, but since then it has become increasingly clear that it is nothing of the sort. Using aggregated data on jobseekers registered with the Swedish Public Employment Service I document how the inflow, outflow, and stock of jobseekers evolved for various demographic groups during the first wave of the pandemic. Similar to previous studies, I find that already disadvantaged groups, such as the younger and to some extent also the foreign born were more adversely affected during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, that is not to say that other groups were not affected, and contrary to many of these same studies I do not find that women were disproportionally affected.

Suggested Citation

  • Eliason, Marcus, 2021. "The unequal(?) burden of unemployment in Sweden during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic," Working Paper Series 2021:14, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2021_014
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Angelov, Nikolay & Waldenström, Daniel, 2023. "The Economic Effects of COVID-19 in Sweden: A Report on Income, Taxes, Distribution, and Government Support Policies," IZA Policy Papers 200, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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