• Bożena Wielgoszewska, Jane Maddock, Michael J Green, Giorgio Di Gessa, Sam Parsons, Gareth J Griffith, Jazz Croft, Anna J Stevenson, Charlotte Booth, Richard J Silverwood, David Bann, Praveetha Patalay, Alun D Hughes, Nishi Chaturvedi, Laura D Howe, Emla Fitzsimons, KatikireddiSrinivasa VittalSVMRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK., and George B Ploubidis.
• Centre for Longitudinal Studies, UCL Social Research Institute, University College, London, UK.
• Bmc Med. 2022 Apr 6; 20 (1): 147147.

BackgroundIn March 2020, the UK implemented the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) to minimise job losses. Our aim was to investigate associations between furlough and diet, physical activity, and sleep during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsWe analysed data on 25,092 participants aged 16-66 years from eight UK longitudinal studies. Changes in employment, including being furloughed, were based on employment status before and during the first lockdown. Health behaviours included fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, and sleep. Study-specific estimates obtained using modified Poisson regression, adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics and pre-pandemic health and health behaviours, were statistically pooled using random effects meta-analysis. Associations were also stratified by sex, age, and education.ResultsAcross studies, between 8 and 25% of participants were furloughed. Compared to those who remained working, furloughed workers were slightly less likely to be physically inactive (RR = 0.85; [95% CI 0.75-0.97]; I 2 = 59%) and did not differ overall with respect to low fruit and vegetable consumption or atypical sleep, although findings for sleep were heterogenous (I 2 = 85%). In stratified analyses, furlough was associated with lower fruit and vegetable consumption among males (RR = 1.11; [1.01-1.22]; I 2 = 0%) but not females (RR = 0.84; [0.68-1.04]; I 2 = 65%). Considering changes in quantity, furloughed workers were more likely than those who remained working to report increases in fruit and vegetable consumption, exercise, and hours of sleep.ConclusionsThose furloughed exhibited similar health behaviours to those who remained in employment during the initial stages of the pandemic. There was little evidence to suggest that adoption of such social protection policies in the post-pandemic recovery period and during future economic crises had adverse effects on population health behaviours.© 2022. The Author(s).

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