COVID-19 and Subjective Well-Being in Urban Pakistan in the Beginning of the Pandemic: A Socio-Economic Analysis

Abstract

This study contributes to the existing literature on happiness studies by analyzing the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on subjective well-being (SWB) in a developing country, focusing specifically on satisfaction with socio-economic status. Drawing on survey data for urban Pakistan from before and after the outbreak of COVID-19, we find that during the early days of the pandemic and the related social distancing and potential lockdowns, SWB declined, particularly among unemployed, married couples, males and older people. Unexpectedly, we also observed that households having a higher income suffered more from the pandemic in terms of satisfaction with their socio-economic status compared to their poorer counterparts. We explain this finding by increased fear for falling into poverty due to lockdowns and inflation.