The “Eye of the Hurricane” Paradox: An Unexpected and Unequal Rise of Well-Being During the Covid-19 Lockdown in France

Ettore Recchi (1) , Emanuele Ferragina (1) , Emily Helmeid (1) , Stefan Pauly (2) , Mirna Safi (1) , Nicolas Sauger (3) , Jen Schradie (1)

1 OSC - Observatoire sociologique du changement (Sciences Po, CNRS)
2 ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po)
3 CDSP - Centre de données socio-politiques de Sciences Po (Sciences Po, CNRS)

Panel data covering the French population before and after the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic reveal that self-reported health and well-being have improved during the lockdown in comparison to previous years. We name this counterintuitive phenomenon the “eye of the hurricane” paradox: the large majority of individuals who are not infected by the virus may be seeing their current condition in a more positive light than they normally would. There are, however, divergences across social groups that reflect socioeconomic inequalities. In particular, blue-collar workers deviate from the prevailing trend as their level of self-reported health declines over the lockdown period, Parisian residents experience a sudden drop in their subjective well-being, and people working long hours at home exhibit higher levels of stress during the quarantine.

Mots clés: Covid-19; Well-being; Health; Lockdown; Social inequality

Domaines: Sociologie

Ettore Recchi, Emanuele Ferragina, Emily Helmeid, Stefan Pauly, Mirna Safi, et al.. The “Eye of the Hurricane” Paradox: An Unexpected and Unequal Rise of Well-Being During the Covid-19 Lockdown in France. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2020, 68, pp.100508 - 100512. ⟨10.1016/j.rssm.2020.100508⟩. ⟨hal-03203732⟩