The well-being of frontline workers following the COVID-19 pandemic

Principal Investigator

Emily Wiemers

Associate Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs, Syracuse University

Co-Investigators

 

  • Halim Yoon, PhD Student, Public Administration and International Affairs, Syracuse University
  • I-Fen Lin, Professor, Coleman-Ganong Endowed Professor in Family Structure and Family Process Professor, Human Development and Family Science, University of Missouri
  • Janecca A. Chin, PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University
  • V. Joseph Hotz, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Chicago
  • Judith A. Seltzer, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

Funded By

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

The problem:

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated functional definitions for the essential work that needed to be done in-person to maintain critical infrastructure. As previous work suggests, this “frontline work” as it came to be known, carried additional risks to workers, including increased exposure to health risks and difficulties with childcare. The researchers in this study aimed to compare the differences in outcomes between frontline and nonfrontline workers prior to the pandemic to differences between these workers after the pandemic

The approach:

The researchers used longitudinal data to be able to compare what frontline workers looked like relative to other workers, prior to the pandemic (i.e. before the notion of an essential worker) and after the pandemic (i.e. once the notion of an essential worker had been established). Drawing on two nationally representative surveys, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), the researchers examined employment outcomes, time use, and health outcomes comparing frontline workers to non-frontline workers prior to the pandemic (2018, 2019) and at various stages after the onset of the pandemic (2020, 2021, and 2022). The researchers’ core questions were (1)How did frontline workers differ from non-frontline workers in terms of employment, time use, and health outcomes during COVID-19 relative to the pre-pandemic period? (2) Did these differences change over the course of the pandemic?

The findings:

Contrary to their expectations, the researchers found no statistically significant differences between frontline and non-frontline workers in the outcomes measured in the pre– versus post–pandemic period. This held true for the baseline measure and measures over time. One reason for these findings could be that there were few differences between frontline and non-frontline workers reported at the time of the pandemic. Though these results are surprising, they are consistent across the two major surveys which lends credence to the findings. The findings suggest that perhaps adverse effects on individuals of frontline work as described in the media were very acute in the first months of the pandemic but diminished quickly even before vaccines were widely available.

Figure displaying two sets of four horizontal error bar plots, one for men (left) and one for women (right), showing regression coefficients and 95% confidence intervals for changes in four outcomes (CESD, ADL+IADL, Chronic pain, Sleep problem) comparing years 2020–2018 and 2022–2018.

For each outcome, two blue points with horizontal lines represent estimates and confidence intervals for the two comparisons (2020–2018 and 2022–2018).

The y-axis lists the outcomes: CESD (depressive symptoms), ADL+IADL (activities of daily living plus instrumental activities of daily living), Chronic pain, Sleep problem.

The x-axis shows the coefficient scale, ranging from -0.2 to 0.6.

The vertical dotted line at zero represents no change from 2018.

Coefficient values and confidence intervals for 2018 are listed to the right of each plot for men and women.

Selected Publications & Presentations

Lin, I., Wiemers, E. E., Chin, J. A., Strauss, A. W., Seltzer, J. A., & Hotz, V. J. (2024). Adult children’s responsiveness to parental needs during the pandemic. Journal of Marriage and Family, jomf.13043. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.13043

Wiemers, E. E., Lin, I.-F., Wiersma Strauss, A., Chin, J. A., Hotz, V. J., & Seltzer, J. A. (2024a). Racial–Ethnic Gaps in Pandemic-Related Economic Hardship: Age Differences Among Older Adults. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 79(8), gbae099. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbae099

Wiemers, E. E., Lin, I.-F., Wiersma Strauss, A., Chin, J., Hotz, V. J., & Seltzer, J. A. (2024b). Age Differences in Experiences of Pandemic-Related Health and Economic Challenges Among Adults Aged 55 and Older. The Gerontologist, 64(6), gnae023. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnae023