LAUSR

causes inequities, COVID-19. the long-term sequelae of COVID-19, it important understand how socioeconomic factors may be associated with COVID-19 diagnosis in early life. In the study et 2 administrative health insurance data were used to investigate the association between socioeconomic conditions and COVID-19 hospitalization among 690115 individuals aged 18 years or younger in Germany between January 1, 2020, and July 13, 2021. In this study, children within households with lower socioeconomic position, as determined by parental employment status, had significantly higher rates of hospitalization from COVID-19. After adjustment for age, sex, sociodemographic variables, and comorbidities, children with parents classified as long-term unemployed had higher odds of COVID-19 hospitalization (odds ratio [OR], 1.36; 95% CI, 1.22-1.51) than children with parents who were employed. In additional analyses that investigated area-level measures, children living in low household income districts had higher odds of COVID-19 hospitalization (OR, 3.10; 95% CI, 1.78-5.43) than children living in districts with high median household income, even after accounting for individual-level socioeconomic position. While the administrative insurance database used in this study is comprehensive, several important factors could not be accounted for, such as differences in health care utilization or ascertainment of outpatient COVID-19 diagnoses. Also, vaccinations were not generally available during the study period for this age group and therefore unlikely to account for these associations. The findings from this study by Dragano et al 2 suggest that there is a cost associated with social disadvantage, even in settings with established social systems.