The economic burden of long COVID-19 on labour

Recent research by the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney, the Australian National University (ANU), and the University of Melbourne has highlighted the economic burden that long COVID-19 has exacted on labour hours.

According to a recent study, Australian workers living with COVID-19 cost the economy close to $9.6 billion on average in 2022. The researchers calculated the number of lost labour hours of Australian adults who were unable to work, or were forced to work reduced hours, due to them having COVID-19 symptoms after their original diagnosis.

Professor Quentin Grafton from ANU said the health and economic burden of long COVID-19 in Australia is significant, especially on working adults.

“Workers experiencing ongoing COVID-19 symptoms months after their initial diagnosis resulted in, on average, about 100 million lost labour hours in 2022. This is equivalent to an average loss of eight hours per employed person, per year, including both full-time and part-time employment,” said Grafton.

“We estimate this equates to economy-wide losses, on average, of about $9.6 billion in 2022, or one-quarter of Australia’s real gross domestic product growth that year.”

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2022, up to 1.3 million Australians were estimated to be living with long COVID-19.

“Our research likely underestimates the economic impact of long COVID because it does not account for losses such as healthy employees who can’t work because they’re caring for others with long COVID.”

Professor Tom Kompas, from the University of Melbourne, said: “The age bracket of Australian workers with long COVID who are impacting the economy the most are those aged 30 to 49. Workers in that age bracket contributed to a loss of 52 million worked hours, or more than 50 per cent of the total labor and productivity lost in 2022.”

The researchers said that government and policymakers in Australia should place a greater emphasis on long COVID-19 as a public health priority, not only because of the long-term health implications but also because of the effect it’s having on the economy and the labour force.

“A predominant focus of COVID-19 health policy is prevention of hospitalisation and death from acute COVID-19, with less attention given to long COVID,” said Dr Valentina Costantino from the Kirby Institute.

“At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2022, between 310,000 and 1.3 million Australians were living with long COVID.”

“We estimate that by December 2024, there are likely to be between 173,000 and 873,000 Australians still living with long COVID 12 months after they were first infected. This does not account for reinfections.”

As the repercussions of long-COVID continue to affect the labour force, it will be interesting to see whether or not the government addresses it through any forms of policy. Continuing to attempt to move past the COVID-19 era cannot be the option in this case, as the consequences are dramatically affecting Aussie workers, and the economy.