The Immediate Impacts of COVID-19 on Low-Income Households: Evidence from Malaysia

This study unravelled the economic impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on low-income households. The asymmetric economic impacts of the pandemic that are biased towards the poor, young, and women have been well established. However, micro evidence on the poor is limited, thus demanding detailed understanding to design an effective targeted assistance. In this study, data were gathered from face-to-face interviews using a sampling frame provided by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). Online data collection was dismissed to ensure all low-income households had the same chance to participate, as some might have no online access. Logistic regressions were estimated to identify the characteristics of households that suffered job loss and income reduction. The findings revealed that one in ten households experienced job loss during the pandemic, while one third survived with lower income. The extent of income reduction was rather severe, as the pandemic had reduced income generation by more than half among the affected households. The regression outcomes showed that the higher-income households among the low-income households had higher chances of experiencing income reduction. A similar scenario was noted for less-educated households. Notably, the adverse impacts were not biased toward female-headed households, as is widely perceived. There was no evidence that economic sectors explained job losses, but households involved in the agriculture, domestic, and transportation sectors had higher chances of suffering from income reduction. These results suggest that monetary government assistance should not rely on general indicators, such as female-headed households and below-poverty-line income (PLI). Instead, a more effective measure is to look at other characteristics, such as employment type, education level, and job sectors.

Methodology for Calculating the Job Loss Insurance Rate

The relevance of the research topic is confirmed by the fact that in the context of globalization, job search and job loss have become rather common. Therefore, the working-age population needs to be protected from job loss when looking for a new job. The purpose of the article is to develop a methodology for calculating the job loss insurance rate for citizens. The methodology is based on an actuarial approach that allows a comparison of the net rate and the gross rate paid by the insured. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the consideration of the net rate based on the reasons for employee termination, and the analysis of the possibilities of distributing the net rate between the employee and the employer. Main research methods include tabular and graphical methods, analysis and synthesis, comparison, induction, and deduction. As a result of the introduction of job loss insurance, the social protection of the population in the context of COVID-19 is being strengthened, and opportunities for temporary coverage of expenses during the job search period are being increased. The author concludes that this type of insurance is promising in a market economy and may become not only a new and interesting insurance product but also an effective tool for the social protection of the population in regions with high labor market turbulence. © Bandurin A. V., 2023.

Risk of psychological distress by decrease in economic activity, gender, and age due to COVID-19: A multinational study.

Introduction: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2-virus. COVID-19 has officially been declared as the latest in the list of pandemics by WHO at the start of 2020. This study investigates the associations among decrease in economic activity, gender, age, and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic considering the economic status and education level of countries using multinational surveys. Methods: Online self-report questionnaires were administered in 15 countries which were spontaneously participate to 14,243 respondents in August 2020. Prevalence of decrease in economic activity and psychological distress was stratified by age, gender, education level, and Human Development Index (HDI). With 7,090 of female (49.8%), mean age 40.67, 5,734 (12.75%) lost their job and 5,734 (40.26%) suffered from psychological distress. Results: Associations among psychological distress and economic status, age, and gender was assessed using multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for country and education as random effects of the mixed model. We then measured the associations between HDI and age using multivariate logistic regression. Women had a higher prevalence of psychological distress than men with 1.067 Odds ratio, and younger age was significantly associated with decrease in economic activity for 0.998 for age increasing. Moreover, countries with lower HDI showed a higher prevalence of decrease in economic activity, especially at lower education levels. Discussion: Psychological distress due to COVID-19 revealed a significant association with decrease in economic activity, women, and younger age. While the proportion of decrease in economic activity population was different for each country, the degree of association of the individual factors was the same. Our findings are relevant, as women in high HDI countries and low education level in lower HDI countries are considered vulnerable. Policies and guidelines for both financial aid and psychological intervention are recommended.

Job Insecurity, Employability and Financial Threat during COVID-19

COVID-19 has resulted not only in widespread illness and death, it has also upended most spheres of social life including the economic/financial one in that it has had large impacts on local economies, resulting in widespread job loss, job insecurity and loss of income. Employability, a psychological construct, refers to the belief that one can get a (another) job in the event of job loss, and financial threat refers to feelings of threat and anxiety associated with one's finances. During the pandemic, many people experienced job loss due mainly to business closures. The present study examined the relationship between employability, job insecurity due to COVID-19, and financial threat in a Canadian (n= 487) and U.S. (n=481) sample of adults recruited on MTurk early on in the pandemic (April 2020). Participants in the Canadian sample, compared to their American counterparts, were less likely to be employed full-time, 37% vs. 67%, respectively, were more likely to be unemployed, 40% vs. 13%, respectively, and had lower self-reported socio-economic status. A theoretical model was put forward in which employability was associated with less job insecurity and this was related to less financial threat. Results revealed that financial self-efficacy was associated with greater employability, less job insecurity and less financial threat in both samples. Further, feelings that one had enough income to "get by" since the advent of COVID-19, were positively related to employability in both samples, but in the Canadian sample only, these feelings were also related to less job insecurity and less financial threat. Implications of the study's results are discussed within the economic climate resulting from the pandemic.

A longitudinal analysis of involuntary job loss and communication resilience processes during the COVID-19 pandemic

This longitudinal study explored associations between communication resilience processes, job-search self-efficacy, and well-being for a sample of US adults who involuntarily lost their jobs during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the communication theory of resilience (CTR), we tested four possible models regarding how the enactment of resilience processes would be associated with job-search self-efficacy and well-being over time. Participants (N = 595) described their job loss story and completed measures of communication resilience processes, job-search self-efficacy, and well-being (perceived stress, mental health, and life satisfaction) in February 2021, then completed measures again 2 and 4 months later. Findings from random intercept cross-lagged panel analyses suggested that after accounting for between-person associations, resilience enactment shared significant within-person reciprocal relationships with job-search self-efficacy, perceived stress, and mental health over time. Theoretical implications for CTR, future directions for communication research, and practical implications for supporting diverse job seekers are discussed.

Displaced workers and the pandemic recession

Workers displaced during the pandemic recession experienced better earnings and employment outcomes than workers displaced during previous recessions. A sharp recovery in aggregate labor market conditions after the pandemic recession accounts for these better outcomes. The industry and occupation composition of displaced workers, the prevalence of recalls, and increased take-up of unemployment insurance benefits are unlikely explanations. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Effects of Upside Risk on Microgrids' Reliability Considering the COVID-19 Pandemic

The power systems in the areas of human resources and customer demand were greatly impacted by COVID-19 due to a series of restrictions on human movements, lockdowns of factories, and several job losses during the period. In situations like this, the use of microgrids may help attain a balance in the consumption and generation of power, thereby leading to customer satisfaction. The energy resources' optimal power scheduling in a standalone microgrid, taking into consideration the upside risk (UR), is proposed in this work. The standalone microgrid is made up of different energy resources such as a diesel generator (DSG), photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine (WT), and battery storage system (BSS). In this paper, the energy not supplied (ENS) is minimized in standalone mode by considering the effects of COVID-19. The UR is the change between the actual and target ENS when the target ENS is greater than the actual. Also, COVID-19 led to a significant reduction in the ENS. © 2023 IEEE.

Job loss and food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic

PurposeLiving a nutritious lifestyle requires that people get a sufficient amount of nutrients, vitamins and minerals every day. Healthy dietary practices are related to a stronger immune system, better prevention and easier recovery from illnesses, lower blood pressure, healthy weight, lower risk of diabetes, heart problems and other medical conditions and improved overall well-being (WHO, 2020). Therefore, to maintain a strong immune system able to prevent diseases and ease recovery, optimal nutrition and healthy habits are of increased importance during a pandemic such as Covid-19. However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 22 million Americans have lost a job between February and October 2020, increasing the unemployment rate from 3.5% in February 2020 to 6.9% in October 2020, reaching a peak of 14.7% in April 2020. Job losses during the Covid-19 crisis are likely to put lots of families at risk of malnutrition and food insufficiency and to further deteriorate the already existing food insecurity (Gundersen et al., 2018). This research explores the effect of a recent job loss between August and October 2020 on food sufficiency.Design/methodology/approachThis research examines the impact of a job loss on nutrition and food safety. Specifically, this study explores the effect of a job loss during the Covid-19 pandemic on the level of family and child food sufficiency as perceived by the respondent, confidence about meeting family's dietary needs in the four weeks following the interview, and an indicator of whether the food sufficiency status of the family has deteriorated or not. This study also determines the differential effect of a job loss by individuals who are still employed despite the loss relative to workers who remained unemployed after a job loss during the Covid-19 crisis. Subsample analyses based on ethnicities, genders and educational attainment are also performed to identify the most vulnerable groups.FindingsThe results provide evidence that a job loss is associated with a highly statistically significant deterioration of food sufficiency for families and children and a reduction in the confidence in food security for the near future. This effect is observed for all job losers, but from them, it is larger for the ones who are currently unemployed compared to those who are working. The association between a job loss and family's nutrition insecurity is the greatest for Hispanic, males and people with some college. Children's nutrition suffers the most for children whose parents have not completed high school. These results provide an insight into the adverse effect of Covid-19 on food security.Practical implicationsFrom a policy perspective, the results indicate that federal nutrition programs whose goal is to ensure that the dietary needs of Americans, and especially children, are met, which are most likely to benefit the Hispanic population, individuals with low educational attainment and individuals who remained unemployed after losing a job.Originality/valueThis study makes several contributions to the growing literature on food security. First, this study is novel in that it examines the effect of an ongoing event, specifically a labor market disruption as a result of a health and economic crisis, on families' nutrition, and does so using the newest publicly available data designed to track the impact of Covid-19 on the American population. This is one of the first studies that investigates the forementioned impacts in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study further contributes to the literature by distinguishing between employed versus unemployed individuals despite a job loss and by studying distinct groups on the population. In addition, this study compares the effects of interest in the onset of the pandemic to a year later to examine the population's adjustment to the crisis. The importance and relevance of the results for policy decision-making are also discussed in the paper.

Vulnerability to COVID-19 unemployment in the Portuguese tourism and hospitality industry

Purpose: This paper aims to address the immediate effects of the COVID-19 crisis in the Portuguese tourism and hospitality industry by examining whether some specific characteristics make people more vulnerable or more immune to unemployment. Design/methodology/approach: Using an extensive micro-level data set of personal and job-related attributes containing all unemployed individuals in the Portuguese tourism and hospitality industry, a logit model with 56,142 observations is estimated to assess how each characteristic contributed to the unemployment odds during the COVID-19 crisis (until the end-July 2020), relatively to the pre-COVID period. Findings: The most vulnerable workers to COVID-19 unemployment seem to be older, less educated, less qualified, women and residents in regions with a higher concentration of people and tourism activity. Moreover, the COVID-19 crisis is generating a new type of unemployment by also affecting those who were never unemployed before, with more stable jobs and more motivated at work, while reducing voluntary disruptions. Practical implications: Public effort should be made not only to increase workforce education but especially to reinforce job-specific skills. The COVID-19 crisis has broken traditional protective measures against unemployment and separated workers from their desired occupations, which justifies new and exceptional job preservation measures. Policy recommendations are given aiming at strengthening worker resilience and industry competitiveness in the most affected sub-sectors and regions. Originality/value: This study extends the current understanding of worker vulnerability to economic downturns. Herein, this paper used a three-level approach (combining socio-demographic, work-related and regional factors), capturing the immediate effects of the COVID-19 crisis and focussing on the tourism and hospitality industry (the hardest-hit sector worldwide). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

AI-Based and Digital Mental Health Apps: Balancing Need and Risk

Mental health and well-being are increasingly important topics in discussions on public health [1]. The COVID-19 pandemic further revealed critical gaps in existing mental health services as factors such as job losses and corresponding financial issues, prolonged physical illness and death, and physical isolation led to a sharp rise in mental health conditions [2]. As such, there is increasing interest in the viability and desirability of digital mental health applications. While these dedicated applications vary widely, from platforms that connect users with healthcare professionals to diagnostic tools to self-assessments, this article specifically explores the implications of digital mental health applications in the form of chatbots [3]. Chatbots can be text based or voice enabled and may be rule based (i.e., linguistics based) or based on machine learning (ML). They can utilize the power of conversational agents well-suited to task-oriented interactions, like Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, or Google Assistant. But increasingly, chatbot developers are leveraging conversational artificial intelligence (AI), which is the suite of tools and techniques that allow a computer program to seemingly carry out a conversational experience with a person or a group. © 1982-2012 IEEE.

The Contributions of Social Stressors and Coping Resources to Psychological Distress Among Those Who Experienced Furlough or Job Loss Due to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a global economic recession resulting in widespread unemployment and worker furloughs. Using national survey data (n = 2,000), this study examines whether and how employment-based discrepancies in financial strains, anticipatory stressors, and personal coping resources contribute to elevated psychological distress among those who experienced involuntary job displacement due to COVID-19. Disaggregating displaced workers into those who were furloughed and those who lost their job due to the pandemic, I find that both groups report more depressive symptoms and anger than the stably employed and respondents whose unemployment is not COVID-related. Greater financial strains and smaller reserves of coping resources contribute in varying degrees to heightened levels of distress found among displaced workers, however, anticipatory stress about economic security is the predominant factor driving disparities in psychological distress. These findings, and the central role of anticipatory stressors in shaping employment-based differences in mental health during the pandemic, are discussed.

Health insurance coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of Medicaid expansion.

Using data from the US Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, we analyzed the likelihood of loss of health insurance and enrollment into new health coverage during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Loss of employment was associated with a significant increase in the likelihood of loss of health insurance and, specifically, an increase in the likelihood of employer-sponsored health insurance. However, individuals in Medicaid expansion states experienced a lower likelihood of loss of health insurance compared with individuals in nonexpansion states. At the same time, there was a statistically significant increase in Medicaid enrollment in expansion states, by 3.2 percentage points. Reemployment or acquiring employment was associated with a gain in health insurance coverage. During an economic downturn, eligibility, and coverage gaps leave many without affordable coverage options, and the pandemic will likely bring renewed attention to gaps in Medicaid coverage in nonexpansion states.

Losing talent due to COVID-19: The roles of anger and fear on industry turnover intentions

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the US hospitality industry workforce experienced significant job loss via furloughs and job eliminations. Over a year later, the American hospitality industry is now facing a labor shortage. However, there is a dearth of literature explaining why the hospitality industry's response due to a mega-event, like the pandemic, can motivate employees to leave the hospitality industry. Instead, theory and research have primarily focused on organizations as the focal point for understanding turnover, while neglecting the industry. Using the affect theory of social exchange, this paper examined how anger and fear related to job status changes (i.e., being furloughed or laid-off) due to the pandemic, influence intentions to leave the industry. Study 1 used a survey of management-level employees, whereas Study 2 used an experiment to test the proposed model. Both studies showed that employees who lost their job due to the pandemic felt more anger and fear than those still employed. However, mediation analyses revealed anger, but not fear, as the primary driver of industry turnover intentions. These results highlight a potentially problematic trend. Should skilled hospitality workers switch industries due to job loss amidst an industry-wide negative event, it may become difficult for hospitality businesses to find qualified employees once the industry recovers and rehiring begins. © 2022 The Authors

COVID-19-Related Household Job Loss and Mental Health in a Nationwide United States Sample of Sexual Minority Adolescents.

Household job loss during COVID-19 constitutes a public health crisis. Research suggests associations between household job loss, harsher parenting practices, and mental health challenges in the general population. Sexual minority adolescents (SMA) face high rates of family stress and rejection, but evidence linking household job loss to SMA mental health is lacking. This study evaluated associations between household job loss, family rejection, and mental health with a national sample of SMA who were sheltering in place with families during the pandemic. SMA from an ongoing prospective study completed an online questionnaire between May 13-31, 2020. It was hypothesized that household job loss during the pandemic would be associated with elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms through family rejection. Household job loss during the pandemic was indirectly associated with SMA mental health through family rejection. These findings highlight how socioeconomic change and policy carry implications for SMA health.

Labour Market Shocks and Parental Investments during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

This paper studies spill-over effects of parental labour market shocks at two time points in the Covid-19 crisis: right after its onset in April 2020, and in January 2021. We use rich data from the UK to look at the consequences of immediate and persistent shocks that hit parents' economic livelihoods. These negative labour market shocks have substantially larger impacts when suffered by fathers than by mothers. Children of fathers that suffered the most severe shocks - earnings dropping to zero - are the ones that are consistently impacted. In April 2020, they were 10 percentage points less likely to have received additional paid learning resources, but their fathers were spending about 30 more minutes per day helping them with school work. However, by January 2021, this latter association switches sign, as the negative spill-over onto children's education occurred for those fathers facing more persistent, negative labour market shocks as the crisis progressed. The paper discusses potential mechanisms driving these results, finding a sustained deterioration of household finances and a worsening of father's mental health to be factors at play.

Job Insecurity, Employability and Financial Threat during COVID-19

COVID-19 has resulted not only in widespread illness and death, it has also upended most spheres of social life including the economic/financial one in that it has had large impacts on local economies, resulting in widespread job loss, job insecurity and loss of income. Employability, a psychological construct, refers to the belief that one can get a (another) job in the event of job loss, and financial threat refers to feelings of threat and anxiety associated with one's finances. During the pandemic, many people experienced job loss due mainly to business closures. The present study examined the relationship between employability, job insecurity due to COVID-19, and financial threat in a Canadian (n= 487) and U.S. (n=481) sample of adults recruited on MTurk early on in the pandemic (April 2020). Participants in the Canadian sample, compared to their American counterparts, were less likely to be employed full-time, 37% vs. 67%, respectively, were more likely to be unemployed, 40% vs. 13%, respectively, and had lower self-reported socio-economic status. A theoretical model was put forward in which employability was associated with less job insecurity and this was related to less financial threat. Results revealed that financial self-efficacy was associated with greater employability, less job insecurity and less financial threat in both samples. Further, feelings that one had enough income to "get by" since the advent of COVID-19, were positively related to employability in both samples, but in the Canadian sample only, these feelings were also related to less job insecurity and less financial threat. Implications of the study's results are discussed within the economic climate resulting from the pandemic.

Disruptions in Global Supply Chains due to COVID 19

The recent witnessed pandemic COVID-19 caused severe distress in the Global Supply Chains (GSCs). Worldwide lockdowns, job losses, etc. helped in the creation of this problem. We describe the characteristics that distinguish epidemic outbreaks as a distinct supply chain disruption risk category. It is clearly highlighted that there is lack of visibility of disruptions in GLOBAL SUPPLY Chains and delayed industry response to COVID-19. The COVID-19 outbreak has certainly forced firms to re-evaluate their business strategies. The lead time, the speed of epidemic propagation and the upstream and downstream interruption durations in the supply chain are all significant aspects. This research can be used by decision teams to predict the short-term and long-term impacts of supply chain occurrences and to define pandemic supply chain strategies and tactics. This paper discusses the impact of COVID-19, the effect of lockdown and problems in existing technologies. Possible solutions regarding reducing the effect of pandemic and plans to prepare for the future are also depicted. © 2022 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved.

PANDEMIC-INDUCED CRISES IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY – AN INDIAN CONTEXT

This paper aims to examine the pandemic-induced crises psychological and physical distress experienced by the employees during the Covid19 pandemic and the implications on job loss and job characteristics from all domains of the hospitality industry in India. The study is designed to explore the pandemic-induced tourism crisis along with emotional, mental, and physical effects. An in-depth qualitative exploration was used and a tool comprising of data sets include representatives from aviation, resorts and hotel segments, tour operators, and travel agents. The researchers used a semi-structured questionnaire that had two sections and explored industry concerns, HR strategies, and employee distress through a multi-stage process involving coding and content analysis. The study analyzed the pandemic-induced crises at the micro and macro levels and grouped them under three essential dimensions such as;organizational and industry concerns, organizational HR policies, and employees’ psychological distress. The subthemes under these dimensions can contribute to scale validation. The subthemes grouped under the three major dimensions have come out as a theoretical model of how the pandemic has affected professionals at these three levels. The findings as items can be validated through descriptive research in quantitative terms forming the future scope. The study analyzed the perceptions of professionals in the tourism and hospitality business amid the pandemic and concludes that a proactive HR policy can minimize employees’ psychological distress. © 2022 Editura Universitatii din Oradea. All rights reserved.

Losing talent due to COVID-19: The roles of anger and fear on industry turnover intentions

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the US hospitality industry workforce experienced significant job loss via furloughs and job eliminations. Over a year later, the American hospitality industry is now facing a labor shortage. However, there is a dearth of literature explaining why the hospitality industry's response due to a mega-event, like the pandemic, can motivate employees to leave the hospitality industry. Instead, theory and research have primarily focused on organizations as the focal point for understanding turnover, while neglecting the industry. Using the affect theory of social exchange, this paper examined how anger and fear related to job status changes (i.e., being furloughed or laid-off) due to the pandemic, influence intentions to leave the industry. Study 1 used a survey of management-level employees, whereas Study 2 used an experiment to test the proposed model. Both studies showed that employees who lost their job due to the pandemic felt more anger and fear than those still employed. However, mediation analyses revealed anger, but not fear, as the primary driver of industry turnover intentions. These results highlight a potentially problematic trend. Should skilled hospitality workers switch industries due to job loss amidst an industry-wide negative event, it may become difficult for hospitality businesses to find qualified employees once the industry recovers and rehiring begins.

Family resilience during the COVID-19 onset: A daily-diary inquiry into parental employment status, parent-adolescent relationships, and well-being.

COVID-19 changed the landscape of employment and financial security in the USA, contributing to multi-systemic disruptions in family life. Using dyadic, daily-diary parent-adolescent data from a nationwide American sample (18,415 daily assessments; 29 days: 4/8/2020-4/21/2020 and 5/18/2020-6/1/2020; N = 635 parent-adolescent dyads), this intensive longitudinal study investigated how COVID-19-related job loss and working-from-home (WFH) arrangements influenced parents' and children's daily affect indirectly through family functioning (i.e., parent-adolescent conflict, inter-adult conflict, and parental warmth) and whether these links varied by family socioeconomic status (SES). Parental employment status was linked to these family relational dynamics, which were then connected to parents' and adolescents' daily affect. Although SES did not moderate these links, low-income families were more likely to experience job loss, parent-adolescent conflict, and inter-adult conflict and less likely to WFH than higher-income families. As inter-relations within the family are a malleable point for intervention, clinicians working with families recovering from the fiscal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are encouraged to use approaches that strengthen family relationships, especially between adolescents and their parents. Unemployment subsidies are discussed as a means to support families struggling with job loss, and organizations are urged to consider the benefits of WFH on employee health and work-life balance.