This article explores selected difficulties over two years, with data collected in Spain from April to August 2020 (COVICAT) and from May to December 2021 (CONTENT), with a focus on age, gender, education, and income. People with the highest education and income reported more difficulties bearing the stay-at-home order in 2020, in terms of both the limits on social life and the management of family conflicts. Nevertheless, those with the highest income level also reported greater levels of perceived social support. From a financial perspective, those with the lowest levels of education and income were hit harder, with increased financial problems in 2021. The group between 40 and 50 years of age showed less capacity to recover from the economic difficulties faced in 2020, with persistent levels of economic struggle in 2021, in comparison with older age groups. No differences across gender were observed in any of the dimensions explored. 

This research draws on self-reported answers to questions about whether, as a consequence of lockdown, individuals faced difficulties from their inability to socialise (go out, see friends or family, visit bars or restaurants, or participate in other social events) or conflicts within the family (more conflicts than usual with family members and problems related to work-family balance). The participants in the study reported more difficulties facing family conflicts, whether they involved work-family balance or disputes within the household, than problems from the inability to socialise arising from the stay-at-home order. Within groups, there were no differences across gender, for any measure, or age when referring to family issues. However, differences were observed across education and income groups. Those with the highest levels of education and income reported more difficulties arising both from the inability to socialise and increased family conflicts. This is particularly significant in the case of education. Also, older people suffered less from the prohibition of social gatherings. 

Participants responded to a questionnaire made up of eight items capturing two dimensions of social support: confidant support (which reflects whether important matters in life are discussed and shared with someone) and affective support (which reflects levels of love and care perceived). The reported levels of social support decreased in 2021 compared to 2020. When looking at the differences per stratification group, there are no major differences in social support across age or gender. Concerning education, those with a university degree reported higher levels of social support than all other educational levels both in 2020 and 2021. However, the most important differences are found across income groups: the higher it is, the higher the level of perceived social support, with similar trends between both years. 

Individuals’ reports of financial problems in making their regular payments, such as rent or utility bills, were used to explore how the pandemic shocked different socio-demographic and socio-economic groups in 2020 and 2021. Generally, a larger proportion of people reported having financial problems in 2020 than in 2021, even though the differences are not equally significant across stratification factors. 

With respect to age, on average, a higher proportion of people faced problems with payments during 2020. For the age group between 40 and 50 years old, the same level of financial problems persisted in 2021 whereas, for all other age groups, the probability of facing some sort of financial difficulty decreased with age in 2021. 
Regarding gender, a higher proportion of people had problems with payments in 2020 compared to 2021, with no significant differences between men and women.

By educational group, the only significant differences between 2020 and 2021 were within the group of people with the lowest level of studies, with around 12-16% of people reporting having faced problems in 2020 compared to 6%-10% in 2021. Across education levels, those with the highest level of educational attainment (university) had fewer problems with regular payments compared to all other groups both in 2020 and 2021. 

The largest differences emerged across income groups. We observe that the probability of reporting difficulties with habitual payments decreases with the level of income at a decreasing rate, with marginally no differences between the two higher levels of income. At the lowest levels of income (<800€), 29%-42% of people reported economic problems in 2020; with those numbers increasing to 34%-52% in 2021. It is the only socio-economic group which reported increased levels of economic problems in 2021 compared to 2020. 

The pandemic has led to a number of negative consequences for individuals’ well-being and their financial situation. The COVICAT/CONTENT study, on which this article is based, explored how the different groups analysed dealt with the impact of lockdown in various ways. 

Individuals with the highest level of education and income reported more difficulties bearing the state mandates during lockdown, both when dealing with the prohibition of leaving their homes to socialise and when managing of conflict within the family. The reason for this may be that the richest and more educated were also more likely to do outdoor social activities before the pandemic and for this reason were the hardest hit by the stay-at-home order.

Nevertheless, they reported greater levels of perceived social support, which is likely to reflect the larger social network they can count on and higher financial means to seek professional support in comparison with less educated and lower-income individuals. Overall, the perceived social support was significantly lower in September-December 2021 compared to April-August 2020. This may be because people made a special effort to connect with those in their inner circle after the severe restrictions were relaxed in May 2020. 

From a financial perspective, the pandemic represented a greater shock to those with the lowest levels of education and income. For those at the lowest level of income, economic problems increased in 2021, which may be a result of cumulative debt and unemployment spells. The age group between 40 and 50 showed less capacity to recover from the economic difficulties faced in 2020, with persistent levels of economic struggle in 2021, compared with older age groups. 

The exploration of data from COVICAT/CONTENT suggests the need to provide extra financial help and social support to individuals with lower levels of education and income. This should be done with short-term policies aimed at addressing urgent matters that follow catastrophes such as the covid-19 pandemic and long-term policies aimed at resolving social vulnerabilities so that new catastrophic events will not find the Spanish community unprepared. 

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GOLDBERG, X., et al. (2022): «Mental health and COVID-19 in a general population cohort in Spain (COVICAT study)», Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 57(12) 

WITTEVEEN, D., and VELTHORST, E. (2020): «Economic hardship and mental health complaints during COVID-19», Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(44)