Publication Type
Working Paper
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
9-2020
Abstract
We provide novel evidence on how the COVID-19 global health and economic crisis is affecting overall life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction using data from a monthly longitudinal survey of middle-aged and older Singaporeans. Using a difference-in-differences framework, we document large declines in overall life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction during the COVID-19 outbreak, except satisfaction with health. These declines coincide with the introduction of a nationwide lockdown, with life satisfaction remaining below its pre-pandemic levels even after the lockdown is lifted. We also find that individuals who report a drop in household income during the COVID-19 outbreak experience a decline in overall life satisfaction almost twice as large as those who do not report any income loss.
Keywords
COVID-19, pandemic, life satisfaction, subjective well-being, individual-level monthly panel data, difference-in-differences, Singapore
Discipline
Behavioral Economics | Income Distribution | Public Health
Research Areas
Applied Microeconomics
First Page
1
Last Page
30
Publisher
Institute of Labor Economics, Discussion Paper Series, No. 13702
City or Country
Bonn
Citation
CHENG, Terence C.; KIM; and KOH, Kanghyock.
COVID-19, lockdown, and the dynamics of subjective well-being. (2020). 1-30.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2440
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.