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Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic placed exceptional strain on essential services, raising urgent concerns about the mental well-being of workers in critical sectors. This study examines the short- and medium-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of health and social care (HSC) workers in the UK relative to other occupational groups. Using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study and measuring mental health via the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), we apply a difference-in-differences strategy, where both groups could be treated only in the second period (a pre-post design), to investigate whether HSC workers experienced distinct mental health trajectories compared to other key workers (KWs) and workers in non-essential sectors (non-KWs). The results for the immediate post-pandemic period (April–November 2020) show no significant differences in mental health for HSC workers compared with either comparator worker groups. Medium-term outcomes remained statistically insignificant across occupational comparisons. Additional analyses of individual GHQ items and potential mechanisms (financial stability and social isolation) suggest limited heterogeneous effects for each worker group using yearly data. While all studied groups exhibited some deterioration in mental health after 2020, HSC workers' trajectories largely mirrored those of other KWs and non-KWs, suggesting that factors such as stable employment and financial security may have cushioned the psychological impact for this sector.
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© 2026 The Author(s). Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Open Access
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