Comparison of health, economy, and educational consequences of covid-19 across and within countries

Abstract

This article sought to document the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, economy, and education. While the overall impact of the pandemic has been tremendous, I have also described how the severity of the impact varied across countries and among social groups within societies. The international differences contrasted lower- vs higher-income countries, socialist vs capitalist societies, and nations that did or did not have governments oriented to scientific evidence and populations that trusted the government. Inter-group differences contrasted groups that differed by social economic status, race/ethnicity, and gender. In general, the pandemic reinforced existing inequalities across nations and among social groups within nations. Part of the explanation of the overall impact as well as the differences in the impact of the pandemic include decisions and behaviors of individuals, but the policies and (in)action of governments clearly also played a substantial role.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, educational inequalities, health inequalities, economic inequalities.