Reduction of basic education teachers’ family income in Minas Gerais, Brazil, in the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the socioeconomic and occupational characteristics and self-reported health conditions associated with the reduction in the income of basic education teachers in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a websurvey-type epidemiological survey. A total of 15,641 teachers participated in the study, the responses were obtained from August to September 2020. The data was subjected to descriptive statistics, chi-squared test to assess the association between variables and multiple Poisson regression model, with robust variance, to estimate the magnitude of the associations. The results showed that the reduction in family income affected 40.9% of teachers, mainly in the urban area. The reduction in family income during the pandemic was more prevalent among teachers who lived with their partner, who had a precarious relationship (hired) with the school, with up to twenty years of teaching experience, who worked for up to ten hours/week and among teachers with hypertension, episodes of sadness, anxiety and sleep difficulties.

Keywords:
school teachers; income; coronavirus infections; Covid-19; epidemiology