Thanks to better access to health care, job stability and a welcoming home, the rich distance themselves socially at higher rates than low-income households.
Johns Hopkins University economic researchers have identified a clear metric: People who earn more than $ 230,000 a year are up to 54% more likely to take pandemic security measures, such as putting on masks or keeping their distance. others, compared to people who contribute about $ 13,000. annually.
Economists think these findings, published in the Journal of Population Economics, could help epidemiologists predict the spread and report pandemic policy.
The international survey, which included 1,000 participants from Texas, Florida, California and New York, asked participants to discuss how their lifestyle had changed from the start of the pandemic to April 2020. , when COVID-19 cases among Americans tipped the million signal.
Almost all responses reflected some change in behavior in the interest of safety, but the highest winners did more: 32% are more likely to distance themselves socially and 30% are more likely to wash their hands and put on masks.
It is also the logical conclusion, according to the researchers, that they point out that people with higher white-collar earnings are more likely to have the option to work from home, a critical factor in their social distancing metrics. Anyone with telework capability was 24% more likely to answer yes to questions about social distancing.
The other side of this coin means that low-income wage earners are more likely to suffer job losses and wage cuts. Researchers found that access to nature, which is relatively uncommon among low-income households, is another acute predictor of the coherence of social distancing. Those lucky enough to have a garden or park nearby were also 20% more likely to keep safe distances.
The study also revealed a gender disparity (women are 23% more likely to distance themselves than men) and that people with existing health conditions did not appear more or less likely to distance themselves socially compared. with their proper counterparts.
The Johns Hopkins team believes this information could have prevented the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, which was declared in March 2020, just months after the virus was first detected. Since then, more than 23 million Americans have tested positive for the disease and killed nearly 390,000 to date, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The whole messaging of this pandemic is that you’re stuck in telecommuting at home; this has to be very hard, so here are some recipes for fermented dough beginners, and this is what you should catch up on Netflix, ”said Nick Papageorge, an associate professor of economics. in a statement for The Hub to Johns Hopkins. “But what about people who don’t work telework? What will they do? “
Papageorge said his findings can also help local officials make smart decisions about which income groups need more attention and how they are obtained.
“If I’m a politician, I may need to think about opening city parks in a dense neighborhood during a pandemic. Maybe it’s something worth the risk. That’s why we want to understand these details: they may eventually suggest policies, ”Papageorge said.