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The Impacts of Covid-19 Illnesses on Workers

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  • Gopi Shah Goda
  • Evan J. Soltas

Abstract

We show that Covid-19 illnesses persistently reduce labor supply. Using an event study, we estimate that workers with week-long Covid-19 work absences are 7 percentage points less likely to be in the labor force one year later compared to otherwise-similar workers who do not miss a week of work for health reasons. Our estimates suggest Covid-19 illnesses have reduced the U.S. labor force by approximately 500,000 people (0.2 percent of adults) and imply an average forgone earnings per Covid-19 absence of at least $9,000, about 90 percent of which reflects lost labor supply beyond the initial absence week.

Suggested Citation

  • Gopi Shah Goda & Evan J. Soltas, 2022. "The Impacts of Covid-19 Illnesses on Workers," NBER Working Papers 30435, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30435
    Note: AG EH LS PE
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sarah Miller & Laura R. Wherry & Diana Greene Foster, 2023. "The Economic Consequences of Being Denied an Abortion," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 394-437, February.
    2. Fischer, Kai & Reade, J. James & Schmal, W. Benedikt, 2021. "The long shadow of an infection: COVID-19 and performance at work," DICE Discussion Papers 368, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    3. Dasom I. Ham, 2022. "Long-Haulers and Labor Market Outcomes," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 060, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    4. Simon Mongey & Laura Pilossoph & Alexander Weinberg, 2021. "Which workers bear the burden of social distancing?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(3), pages 509-526, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Asako Chiba & Shunsuke Hori & Taisuke Nakata, 2025. "Quarantine and Its Scar on Labor," CARF F-Series CARF-F-595, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    2. Amy Finkelstein & Geoffrey Kocks & Maria Polyakova & Victoria Udalova, 2022. "Heterogeneity in Damages from A Pandemic," NBER Working Papers 30658, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. repec:rbz:oboens:11027 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jean-Francois Mercier, 2023. "Quo vadis rstar," Occasional Bulletin of Economic Notes 11046, South African Reserve Bank.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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