LGBTQ+ Women and Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

We analyze whether the pandemic and its containment policies affected the mental health of women differently by their sexual orientation and gender identity. Using a sample of 26 European Union countries, we find that LGBTQ+ women were 8 to 11 percentage points more likely than heterosexual, cisgender women to report anxiety, worries about mental well-being, and depression during the pandemic. We uncover a notable interaction between LGBTQ+ status and household composition, by which the presence of children below the age of 15 reduces the probability of anxiety for LGBTQ+ women. Causal mediation analysis shows that the presence of children partially mediates the link between LGBTQ+ and anxiety, explaining 10% of the total effect. LGBTQ+ women are unconditionally associated with a higher prevalence of worries about mental well-being and depression. Containment policies also mattered: LGBTQ+ women were more likely than heterosexual, cisgender women to have detrimental mental health effects from workplace and office closures. JEL Codes: I14; I18; J16