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Experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and support for safety-net expansion

General Information

Title
Experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and support for safety-net expansion
Author
Alex Rees-Jones, John D’Attoma, Amedeo Piolatto, Luca Salvadori
Publication Type
Journal paper
Outlet
Elsevier Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
Year
2022
Abstract
Did individuals’ experiences with the harms of the COVID-19 pandemic influence their attitudes towards safety-net programs? To assess this question, we combine rich information about county-level impacts and individual-level perceptions of the early pandemic, repeated measurements of attitudes towards safety-net expansion, and pre-pandemic measurements of related political attitudes. Individuals facing higher county-level impact or greater perceived risks are more likely to support long-term expansions to unemployment insurance and government-provided healthcare when surveyed in June 2020. These differences persist across time, with experiences in the early months of the pandemic remaining strongly predictive of attitudes towards safety-net expansion in early 2021.