Economic and Social Research Institute

Independent Sector Organisation

Anne Devlin

E076

It has been well documented internationally that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been disproportionately felt by low-income households, both from health and economic perspectives. Many low paid workers are in essential occupations, such as retail and medical auxiliary services, and have a higher exposure to the virus. Low-income households are also more likely to be of higher density, which makes social distancing problematic leading to a greater spread of the virus. In this study, we propose to explore the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and social deprivation at a local level using Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 testing data alongside the 2017 Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure. The research will be conducted by economists from the Economic and Social Research Institute. The Institute has access to a range of data and as such is experienced in the importance of data security and ensuring IT systems are designed as such. The main output will be a report published online by the ESRI and where possible an academic article will be drafted and submitted to a high-quality journal for publication. The results in any output will be high level descriptive statistics or regression analysis results. There will be no disclosive risk as we are interested in the local effects at a small geographic level rather than individuals.

It has been documented internationally that deprived areas have been affected disproportionately by the pandemic in numerous ways. This research sets out to examine whether deprived areas in Northern Ireland have seen higher levels of COVID-19 infection rates that more affluent areas. This will be an important research question both in terms of recovery from the current pandemic and also in the event of future pandemics or endemics. Given the nature of the data analysis used none of the work would risk any disclosure. We are interested in SOA/ward level data rather than individuals.

31/03/2022

TRE