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Health effects of unemployment benefit program generosity

Author

Listed:
  • Cylus, J.
  • Glymour, M.M.
  • Avendano, M.

Abstract

Objectives. We assessed the impact of unemployment benefit programs on the health of the unemployed. Methods. We linked US state law data on maximum allowable unemployment benefit levels between 1985 and 2008 to individual self-rated health for heads of households in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and implemented state and year fixed-effect models. Results. Unemployment was associated with increased risk of reporting poor health among men in both linear probability (b = 0.0794; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.0623, 0.0965) and logistic models (odds ratio = 2.777; 95% CI = 2.294, 3.362), but this effect is lower when the generosity of state unemployment benefits is high (b for interaction between unemployment and benefits = -0.124; 95% CI = -0.197, -0.0523). A 63% increase in benefits completely offsets the impact of unemployment on self-reported health. Conclusions. Results suggest that unemployment benefits may significantly alleviate the adverse health effects of unemployment among men.

Suggested Citation

  • Cylus, J. & Glymour, M.M. & Avendano, M., 2015. "Health effects of unemployment benefit program generosity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(2), pages 317-323.
  • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.302253_5
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302253
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Elira Kuka, 2020. "Quantifying the Benefits of Social Insurance: Unemployment Insurance and Health," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(3), pages 490-505, July.
    2. Fu, Wei & Liu, Feng, 2019. "Unemployment insurance and cigarette smoking," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 34-51.
    3. Dorn, Florian & Lange, Berit & Braml, Martin & Gstrein, David & Nyirenda, John L.Z. & Vanella, Patrizio & Winter, Joachim & Fuest, Clemens & Krause, Gérard, 2023. "The challenge of estimating the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 interventions – Toward an integrated economic and epidemiological approach," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    4. Nancy Kong & Lars Osberg & Weina Zhou, 2018. "The Shattered “Iron Rice Bowl”— Intergenerational Effects of Economic Insecurity During Chinese State- Owned Enterprise Reform," Working Papers daleconwp2018-01, Dalhousie University, Department of Economics.
    5. Ahammer, Alexander & Packham, Analisa, 2023. "Effects of unemployment insurance duration on mental and physical health," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    6. María Andrée López Gómez & Laura Serra & George L Delclos & Fernando G Benavides, 2017. "Employment history indicators and mortality in a nested case-control study from the Spanish WORKing life social security (WORKss) cohort," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(6), pages 1-15, June.
    7. Lonnie R. Snowden, 2023. "US states' racial bias correlates with less SNAP participation by “undeserving poor” adults and lower unemployment benefit maximums," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 133-149, June.
    8. Megan M. Reynolds & Patricia A. Homan, 2023. "Income Support Policy Packages and Birth Outcomes in U.S. States: An Ecological Analysis," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(4), pages 1-24, August.
    9. Rutten, Albert, 2023. "Essays on work and retirement," Other publications TiSEM 078adee5-770b-417b-b7c1-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

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