Income Loss and Financial Distress during COVID-19: The Protective Role of Liquid Assets

Abstract

Nearly a quarter of U.S. households have experienced job or income losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Liquid assets mitigate financial distress in the face of financial shocks such as job loss, yet this relationship in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown. Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. households (N = 4,383) who completed a survey in the early days of the pandemic, we examined pre-pandemic liquid assets as a moderator of the relationship between job and income loss and difficulty meeting financial obligations and use of high-cost financial resources. Estimates from propensity score-weighted linear probability models indicated that greater liquid assets lessened the probability of experiencing all eight measures of financial distress and most measures of distress among households experiencing job or income losses. Policy efforts to help households build emergency savings can help households better prepare for future pandemics while also supporting public health responses.

Spiritual Well-Being, Social Support, and Financial Distress in Determining Depression: The Mediating Role of Impact of Event During COVID-19 Pandemic in Iran

“…Many businesses were forced to shut down, and some small businesses closed permanently. While overcoming economic upheaval is helped markedly by an individuals' financial standing (85), COVID-19 affected such a large number of people with varying financial needs and capacities that financial distress for many was unavoidable. The positive correlation between financial distress and depressive symptoms has been identified in several studies [see (86)(87)(88)].…”

Epidemija COVID-19 v Sloveniji, odnos do neenakosti in protestni potencial

“…Nekatere študije posledic epidemije v nekaj evropskih državah so namreč pokazale, da zaradi različnih ukrepov finančne pomoči povečanje neenakosti ni nujno (Clark et al, 2020). So pa lahko takšne subjektivne ocene posledica dejstva, da so zaradi epidemije v različnih pogledih (zdravje, zaposlitev, šolanje …) bolj prizadeti tisti prebivalci, ki so že sicer prikrajšani (Roll in Despard, 2020). To pa pri ljudeh povzroča večjo finančno negotovost glede prihodnosti in posredno vpliva na njihove subjektivne zaznave v smislu povečanega občutka, da jim gre slabše od drugih.…”

“…Postavljajo se vprašanja, katere skupine ali kategorije prebivalstva je zdravstvena kriza še posebej prizadela, ali so vsi deležni ustrezne zdravstvene obravnave, ali so se povečale dohodkovne neenakosti, ali prihaja do povečevanja revščine ter novih neenakosti med revnimi in bogatimi državami itd. Na ta vprašanja so poskušali odgovarjati različni raziskovalci, ki so se s svojimi študijami hitro odzvali na izbruh pandemije (Elgar et al, 2020;Clark et al, 2020;Roll in Despard, 2020; Fujimoto et al, 2021). V tem prispevku skušava odgovoriti na vprašanje, kaj se dogaja z zaznavami družbenih (dohodkovnih) neenakosti v kontekstu epidemije COVID-19 med prebivalci Slovenije.…”

Family Thriving During COVID-19 and the Benefits for Children’s Well-Being

“…Shelter-in-place and other public health efforts introduced a national economic threat ( Bartik et al, 2020 ) that contributed to heightened financial stress ( Mann et al, 2020 ) and decreased ability to afford basic needs ( Roll and Despard, 2020 ). Early studies of pandemic effects showed that overall financial stress compromised family well-being during shelter-in-place ( Gassman-Pines et al, 2020 ).…”