Pathology

Business

Disease

Social insurance

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Politics

Public policy

Algorithm

Welfare state

Political science

Health care

Social policy

Safety net

Medicaid

Computer science

Public administration

State (computer science)

Medicine

Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis Research and Practice

Sub-national policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have been politicized in the US. Survival analysis was run on when stay-at-home orders were enacted and lifted across US states from March to June 2020. Results show a strong linkage between pre-crisis social safety net protections (paid sick leave, expanded Medicaid Health Insurance, higher state minimum wage, higher welfare benefits) and crisis policy response – whether a state shuts down earlier and reopens later. Republican-controlled states imposed stay-at-home orders later and reopened sooner. This comparative policy research shows that providing social safety net protections is a policy complement to public health.

Social Safety Nets and COVID-19 Stay Home Orders across US States: A Comparative Policy Analysis