Covid-19 and Health-Related Behaviours: Better to Be Rich in a Poor Neighbourhood or Poor in a Rich Neighbourhood?

Alex Sheridan, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR)
Laura Silva, Paris School of Economics
Franco Bonomi Bezzo, University of Milan

Neighbourhood and individual socio-economic status are both strongly linked to health-risk behaviours, which affect overall health and mortality. During the Covid-19 pandemic, increased time spent in residential areas may have influenced these behaviours. This study examines the combined effect of individual and neighbourhood socio-economic factors on smoking, drinking, sleeping, physical activity, and healthy eating. We hypothesise that the pandemic worsened the negative effects of socio-economic disadvantage on health behaviours, with individual and neighbourhood conditions compounding each other. Using data from four nationally representative cohorts in England, we compare pre-pandemic behaviours with those during the first lockdown (May 2020) and up to March 2021. Our findings show changes in behaviour, such as more sleep for non-workers, less drinking for the unemployed, and healthier habits for high socio-economic status (SES) individuals. Living in deprived areas reinforced negative trends, especially for drinking. However, high-SES individuals were more resilient, engaging in healthier eating and less drug consumption. These results highlight the impact of the pandemic on health-risk behaviours, emphasising the role of neighbourhood and individual factors. Reducing neighbourhood deprivation could positively influence health behaviours and help reduce social inequalities.

Keywords: Neighbourhood/contextual effect analysis, Health and Morbidity, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Population, Shocks and Pandemics

See extended abstract.