We use the UK Household Longitudinal Study and compare pre-COVID-19 pandemic (2017-2019) and during-COVID-19 pandemic data (April 2020) for the same group of individuals to assess and quantify changes in mental health as measured by changes in the GHQ-12 (General Health Questionnaire), among ethnic groups in the UK. We confirm the previously documented average deterioration in mental health for the whole sample of individuals interviewed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we find that the average increase in mental distress varies by ethnicity and gender. Both women –regardless of their ethnicity– and Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) men experienced a higher average increase in mental distress than White British men, so that the gender gap in mental health increases only among White British individuals. These ethnic-gender specific changes in mental health persist after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Finally, we find some evidence that, among men, Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani individuals have experienced the highest average increase in mental distress with respect to White British men.

We construct a marriage market model of matching along multiple dimensions, some of which unobservable, where individual preferences can be summarized by a one-dimensional index combining the various characteristics. We show that, under reasonable assumptions, these indices are ordinally identi…ed, and that the male and female trade-o¤s between their partners' characteristics are overidenti…ed. Using PSID data on spouses' physical and socioeconomic attributes, we recover the marginal rates of substitutions between body mass index (BMI) and wages or education: Men may compensate a 10%-increase in BMI with a 2%-increase in wages. For women, an additional year of education may compensate up to two BMI units.