Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Michaela Benzeval Author-Workplace-Name: ISER, University of Essex and Understanding Society Author-Email: mbenzeval@essex.ac.uk Author-Name: Jon Burton Author-Workplace-Name: ISER, University of Essex and Understanding Society Author-Email: jburton@essex.ac.uk Author-Name: Thomas F. Crossley Author-Workplace-Name: European University Institute, IFS, ESCoE and Understanding Society Author-Email: thomas.crossley@EUI.eu Author-Name: Paul Fisher Author-Workplace-Name: ISER, University of Essex and Understanding Society Author-Email: pfishe@essex.ac.uk Author-Name: Annette Jäckle Author-Workplace-Name: ISER, University of Essex and Understanding Society Author-Email: aejack@essex.ac.uk Author-Name: Hamish Low Author-Workplace-Name: University of Oxford, IFS and Understanding Society Author-Email: hamish.low@economics.ox.ac.uk Author-Name: Brendan Read Author-Workplace-Name: ISER, University of Essex and Understanding Society Author-Email: bread@essex.ac.uk Title: The Idiosyncratic Impact of an Aggregate Shock: The Distributional Consequences of COVID-19 Abstract: Using new data from the Understanding Society: COVID 19 survey collected in April 2020, we show how the aggregate shock caused by the pandemic affects individuals across the distribution. The survey collects data from existing members of the Understanding Society panel survey who have been followed for up to 10 years. Understanding society is based on probability samples and the Understanding Society Covid19 Survey is carefully constructed to support valid population inferences. Further the panel allows comparisons with a pre-pandemic baseline. We document how the shock of the pandemic translates into different economic shocks for different types of worker: those with less education and precarious employment face the biggest economic shocks. Some of those affected are able to mitigate the impact of the economic shocks: universal credit protects those in the bottom quintile, for example. We estimate the prevalence of the different measures individuals and households take to mitigate the shocks. We show that the opportunities for mitigation are most limited for those most in need. Keywords: COVID-19, job loss, inequality, mitigation, financial distress JEL codes: C83, D31, G51, I31, J31, J63 Length: 40 pages Creation-Date: 2020-06-01 Number: 2020-W07 File-URL: https://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/economics/Papers/2020/2020W07_TC_PF_HL_COVID_31MAY2020.pdf File-Format: application/pdf Handle: RePEc:nuf:econwp:2007