COVID-19, Employment and Health in Wales [COVID-19]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the impact of COVID-19 on employment, health and wellbeing in Wales
IRAS ID
282223
Contact name
Alisha Davies
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Public Health Wales
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
The current COVID-19 pandemic is already having a significant impact on people’s ability to work, employment status, and has the potential for longer term detrimental economic impacts for individuals, families and the population of Wales. Given the association between employment and health this is also likely to be greater amongst those more deprived populations, who are in already precarious employment situations. \n\nIn the UK, over the past decade, the number of individuals employed on zero-hours contracts has risen five-fold from 168,000 to 896,000. More specifically, in 2019 in Wales there were 50,000 individuals currently in zero-hours employment which equated to 3.4% of all employment. One suggested driver towards these insecure employment arrangements was the financial crisis of 2008. Furthermore, there were associations reported between poorer mental wellbeing in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis. \n\nTo better understand and quantify the impact of COVID-19 on employment and health across the population of Wales, Public Health Wales will undertake a representative household survey in April/May and again 6-9 months later, the findings of which will help inform a health and cross-government response.\n\nThis study aims to determine: \n(1) The underlying prevalence of precarious employment in Wales;\n(2) The impact of precarious employment on individual and household health and wellbeing;\n(3) The impact of COVID-19 on employment security, \n(4) The impact of changes to employment on individual and household health;\n(5) The public perceptions of fair work\n\nEach of these aims will be explored across employment sectors and demographic groups to understand which populations are more vulnerable to changes to employment and income as a result of COVID-19, and the impact on health in the short and longer term.
REC name
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REC reference
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