COVID-19, Lockdowns and Well-Being: Evidence from Google Trends

The COVID-19 pandemic has led many governments to implement lockdowns. While lockdowns may help to contain the spread of the virus, they may result in substantial damage to population well-being. We use Google Trends data to test whether the lockdowns implemented in Europe and America led to changes in well-being related topic search terms. Using differences-in-differences and a regression discontinuity design to evaluate the causal effects of lockdown, we find a substantial increase in the search intensity for boredom in Europe and the US. We also found a significant increase in searches for loneliness, worry and sadness, while searches for stress, suicide and divorce on the contrary fell. Our results suggest that people's mental health may have been severely affected by the lockdown.

Mots clés

Boredom COVID-19 Lockdown Loneliness Well-being

Domaines

Economies et finances

Liste complète des métadonnées

Format du dépôt	Fichier
Type de dépôt	Article dans une revue
Titre	en COVID-19, Lockdowns and Well-Being: Evidence from Google Trends
Résumé	en The COVID-19 pandemic has led many governments to implement lockdowns. While lockdowns may help to contain the spread of the virus, they may result in substantial damage to population well-being. We use Google Trends data to test whether the lockdowns implemented in Europe and America led to changes in well-being related topic search terms. Using differences-in-differences and a regression discontinuity design to evaluate the causal effects of lockdown, we find a substantial increase in the search intensity for boredom in Europe and the US. We also found a significant increase in searches for loneliness, worry and sadness, while searches for stress, suicide and divorce on the contrary fell. Our results suggest that people's mental health may have been severely affected by the lockdown.
Auteur(s)	Abel Brodeur ^{1, 2} , Andrew E. Clark ^{3, 4, 2} , Sarah Flèche ⁵ , Nattavudh Powdthavee ⁶ 1 University of Ottawa [Ottawa] ( 237693 ) - 75 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5 - Canada 2 IZA - Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit - Institute of Labor Economics ( 237214 ) - Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 5-9 D-53113 Bonn Germany - Allemagne 3 PSE - Paris School of Economics ( 301309 ) - 48 boulevard Jourdan 75014 Paris - France Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne ( 7550 ) ; École normale supérieure - Paris ( 59704 ) ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres ( 564132 ) ; École des hautes études en sciences sociales ( 99539 ) ; École des Ponts ParisTech ( 301545 ) ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( 441569 ) ; Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement ( 577435 ) 4 PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques ( 578027 ) - 48 boulevard Jourdan 75014 Paris - France Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne UMR8545 ( 7550 ) ; École normale supérieure - Paris ( 59704 ) ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres ( 564132 ) ; École des hautes études en sciences sociales ( 99539 ) ; École des Ponts ParisTech ( 301545 ) ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( 441569 ) ; Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement UMR1393 ( 577435 ) 5 AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques ( 526949 ) - 5-9 Boulevard Bourdet CS 50498 13205 Marseille Cedex 1 - France École des hautes études en sciences sociales UMR7316 ( 99539 ) ; Aix Marseille Université UMR7316 ( 198056 ) ; École Centrale de Marseille UMR7316 ( 300415 ) ; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR7316 ( 441569 ) 6 University of Warwick [Coventry] ( 302824 ) - Coventry CV4 7AL - Royaume-Uni
Licence	Paternité - Pas d'utilisation commerciale - Pas de modification
Volume	193
Page/Identifiant	104346
Langue du document	Anglais
Nom de la revue	Journal of Public Economics (ISSN : 0047-2727) Publié par Elsevier
Vulgarisation	Non
Comité de lecture	Oui
Audience	Internationale
Date de publication	2021-01
Public visé	Scientifique
Domaine(s)	Sciences de l'Homme et Société/Economies et finances
Projet(s) ANR	Ecole d'Economie de Paris [En savoir plus] PGSE - ANR-17-EURE-0001 EURE - 2017 Aix-Marseille School of Economics [En savoir plus] AMSE (EUR) - ANR-17-EURE-0020 EURE - 2017
Mots-clés (JEL)	I - Health, Education, and Welfare/I.I1 - Health/I.I1.I12 - Health Behavior I - Health, Education, and Welfare/I.I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty/I.I3.I31 - General Welfare, Well-Being J - Labor and Demographic Economics/J.J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor/J.J2.J22 - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
Mots-clés	en Boredom, COVID-19, Lockdown, Loneliness, Well-being
DOI	10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104346
Pubmed Id	33281237
UT key WOS	000608161200007

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https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03029872

Soumis le : lundi 18 octobre 2021 à 16:56:03

Dernière modification le : vendredi 19 avril 2024 à 16:18:58

Archivage à long terme le : mercredi 19 janvier 2022 à 21:36:12

Dates et versions

halshs-03029872, version 1 (18-10-2021)

Licence

Paternité - Pas d'utilisation commerciale - Pas de modification - CC BY 4.0

Identifiants

HAL Id : halshs-03029872 , version 1
DOI : 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104346
PUBMED : 33281237
WOS : 000608161200007

Citer

Abel Brodeur, Andrew E. Clark, Sarah Flèche, Nattavudh Powdthavee. COVID-19, Lockdowns and Well-Being: Evidence from Google Trends. Journal of Public Economics, 2021, 193, pp.104346. ⟨10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104346⟩. ⟨halshs-03029872⟩

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