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Citation

Berkowitz, Seth A. & Basu, Sanjay (2021). Unmet Social Needs And Worse Mental Health After Expiration Of COVID-19 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. Health Aff (Millwood), 40(3), 426-434. PMCID: PMC8053426

Abstract

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) provided unemployment insurance beneficiaries an extra $600 a week during the unprecedented economic downturn during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but it initially expired in July 2020. We applied difference-in-differences models to nationally representative data from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey to examine changes in unmet health-related social needs and mental health among unemployment insurance beneficiaries before and after initial expiration of FPUC. The initial expiration was associated with a 10.79-percentage-point increase in risk for self-reported missed housing payments. Further, risk for food insufficiency, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms also increased among households that reported receiving unemployment insurance benefits, relative to the period when FPUC was in effect. As further unemployment insurance reform is debated, policy makers should recognize the potential health impact of unemployment insurance.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01990

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2021

Journal Title

Health Aff (Millwood)

Author(s)

Berkowitz, Seth A.
Basu, Sanjay

PMCID

PMC8053426