Inequality and Social Distancing during the Pandemic

Abstract

We study how pre-pandemic inequalities in the United States influenced social distancing over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Richer counties tended to see more protective mobility responses in the initial (pre-pharmaceutical) phase, but less protective responses later. Near linearity of this income effect implies that inequality between counties contributed very little to overall mobility reductions. By contrast, higher within-county inequality and/or poverty came with substantially larger attenuations to non-residential mobility at given average incomes. There were also significant effects of the county’s racial and age composition. County employment composition is found to be additionally important, with reductions in mobility in counties with a higher share of professional workers.