DOES WORKER WELL-BEING ADAPT TO A PANDEMIC? AN EVENT STUDY BASED ON HIGH-FREQUENCY PANEL DATA

Abstract

We estimate the dynamic impact of two waves of the COVID‐19 pandemic on an exceptionally broad range of indicators of worker well‐being. Our analyses are based on high‐frequency panel data from an app‐based survey of German workers and employ an event‐study design with individual‐specific fixed effects. We find that workers' mental health decreased substantially during the first wave of the pandemic. To a smaller extent, this is also true for life satisfaction and momentary happiness. Most well‐being indicators converged to prepandemic levels when infection rates declined. During the second wave of the pandemic, overall worker well‐being decreased less than that during the first wave. Life satisfaction does not seem to have changed at all. We conclude that worker well‐being adapts to the pandemic. Moreover, subgroup analyses indicate that, in terms of well‐being, workers who took part in a job retention scheme fared less well during the pandemic than other employees.