2023/Q4 Article 05. Income and employment losses during the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial situation of households: evidence from the EFF
Series: Economic Bulletin.
Author: Laura Crespo, Marina Gómez-García, Pau Jovell, Blanca Rivera and Ernesto Villanueva.
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Summary
Rationale
Drawing on the Spanish Survey of Household Finances (EFF), this article analyses the relationship between the losses of employment or reductions in labour income caused by COVID-19 and the Spanish population’s financial position, uncertainty and life satisfaction.
Takeaways
- Between 2019 and end-2020, uneven declines in labour income were observed among individuals affected by job retention schemes, lay-offs or business closures, although public assistance mitigated the most pronounced falls.
- Between 2017 and 2020, the relative fall in spending on non-durable goods was 6-10 percentage points higher among those affected by such circumstances, reflecting broad-based increases in uncertainty about their future income.
- Compared with the unaffected group, levels of indebtedness rose most markedly, and increases in net wealth were most subdued, among those who experienced more protracted job or income losses.