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Two Pandemic Years Greatly Reduced Young People's Life Satisfaction: Evidence from a Comparison with Pre-COVID-19 Panel Data

Author

Listed:
  • Neugebauer, Martin

    (University of Mannheim)

  • Patzina, Alexander

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg)

  • Dietrich, Hans

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg)

  • Sandner, Malte

    (Technische Hochschule Nürnberg)

Abstract

How much did young people suffer from the COVID-19 pandemic? A growing number of studies address this question, but they often lack a comparison group that was unaffected by the pandemic, and the observation window is usually short. Here, we compared the 2-year development of life satisfaction of German high school students during COVID-19 (N = 2,698) with the development in prepandemic cohorts (N = 4,834) with a difference-in-differences design. We found a decline in life satisfaction in winter 2020/2021 (Cohen's d = -0.40) that was approximately three times stronger than that in the general population and persisted until winter 2021/2022. Young people found some restrictions particularly burdensome, especially travel restrictions, bans on cultural events, and the closure of bars/clubs.

Suggested Citation

  • Neugebauer, Martin & Patzina, Alexander & Dietrich, Hans & Sandner, Malte, 2023. "Two Pandemic Years Greatly Reduced Young People's Life Satisfaction: Evidence from a Comparison with Pre-COVID-19 Panel Data," IZA Discussion Papers 16636, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16636
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; well-being; causal analysis; pandemic; adolescents; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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