Trends in income and well-being inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
Although the COVID-19 pandemic could have caused distributional changes, existing studies only investigated its immediate monetary impacts. This study examines the medium-term impacts on income and well-being inequality using individual longitudinal data from the Japan Household Panel Survey. Gini coefficients before and after the pandemic are calculated to analyze income inequality. Various well-being measures such as mental health, life satisfaction, sleeping hours, and work engagement are used to analyze well-being inequality. The findings reveal no increase in income inequality. Progressive income growth ensured stable inequality throughout the pandemic. Conversely, well-being worsened, particularly among the low-income group, and well-being inequality increased. Furthermore, people in the high-income group benefited from flexible work arrangements, contributing to improved well-being, suggesting that the increase in well-being inequality was associated with income inequality during the pandemic. Thus, although income inequality did not change, overall inequality, including subjective well-being, increased during the pandemic.
