The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on ethnic discrimination on the housing market

This explorative study examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on ethnic discrimination. By means of 482 pairwise matched correspondence tests in pre-Covid times and 440 tests in Covid times, we examine discrimination against candidates of Maghrebian and Congolese origin on the housing market of a metropolitan city in Belgium. While the absolute invitation rates decreased for both Maghrebian and Belgian candidates at almost the same pace in Covid times, the relative net rate of discrimination of Maghrebian candidates increased significantly from 20% to 36%. With respect to candidates of Congolese origin, the absolute invitation rate only decreased sharply for Belgian candidates but not for Congolese candidates, with declining relative net rates of discrimination from 17% to 6% as a consequence. This suggests that the effect of Covid-19 on discrimination is different for different ethnic groups.

Automated summary

This explorative study examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on ethnic discrimination, specifically focusing on candidates of Maghrebian and Congolese origin in the housing market of a metropolitan city in Belgium. The study found that while the discrimination against Maghrebian candidates increased significantly during Covid times, the discrimination against candidates of Congolese origin decreased. This suggests that the effect of Covid-19 on discrimination varies for different ethnic groups.