IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0056674.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health and the 2008 Economic Recession: Evidence from the United Kingdom

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Astell-Burt
  • Xiaoqi Feng

Abstract

Introduction: The economic recession which began in 2008 has resulted in a substantial increase in unemployment across many countries, including the United Kingdom. Strong association between unemployment and poor health status among individuals is widely recognised. We investigated whether the prevalence of poor health at a population level increased concurrent to the rise in unemployment during the economic recession, and whether the impact on health varied by geographical and socioeconomic circumstances. Method: Health, demographic and socioeconomic measures on 1.36 million survey responses aged 16–64 were extracted from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey of the United Kingdom, collected every three months, from January 2006 to December 2010. The likelihood of self-reporting poor health status and specific types of health problems (depression, mental illness, cardiovascular and respiratory) across time were estimated separately using logistic regression. Explanatory variables included economic status (International Labour Organization definition), occupational class, age, gender, country of birth, ethnicity, educational qualifications, couple status, household tenure, number of dependents, and geographical region. Results: Unemployment (age-gender adjusted) rose from 4.5% in January 2008 to 7.1% by September 2009. The reporting of poor health status increased from 25.7% in July 2009 to 29.5% by December 2010. Similar increases were found for cardiovascular and respiratory health problems; not depression or mental illness. The prevalence of poor health status among the unemployed decreased from 28.8% in July 2008, to 24.9% by March 2009; but this was followed by an increase in poor health experienced across all regions and by all socioeconomic groups, including those who remained employed, regardless of their occupational class. Interpretation: Although our study found no exacerbation of pre-recession health inequalities, the rise in poor health status not only for the unemployed, but also among people who remained employed, regardless of their occupational class, justifies concern voiced among many public health commentators.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Astell-Burt & Xiaoqi Feng, 2013. "Health and the 2008 Economic Recession: Evidence from the United Kingdom," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(2), pages 1-9, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0056674
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056674
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0056674
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0056674&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0056674?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruhm, Christopher J., 2005. "Healthy living in hard times," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 341-363, March.
    2. Catalano, R., 1991. "The health effects of economic insecurity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 81(9), pages 1148-1152.
    3. Ruhm, Christopher J., 1995. "Economic conditions and alcohol problems," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 583-603, December.
    4. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2000. "Are Recessions Good for Your Health?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(2), pages 617-650.
    5. Ruhm, Christopher J. & Black, William E., 2002. "Does drinking really decrease in bad times?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 659-678, July.
    6. Shapiro, Carl & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1984. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 433-444, June.
    7. Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Johannesson, Magnus, 2005. "Business cycles and mortality: results from Swedish microdata," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 205-218, January.
    8. Neumayer, Eric, 2004. "Recessions lower (some) mortality rates:: evidence from Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 1037-1047, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Steffen Otterbach & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2016. "Job insecurity, employability and health: an analysis for Germany across generations," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(14), pages 1303-1316, March.
    2. Nayara Tamayo-Fonseca & Andreu Nolasco & Joaquín Moncho & Carmen Barona & María Ángeles Irles & Rosa Más & Manuel Girón & Manuel Gómez-Beneyto & Pamela Pereyra-Zamora, 2018. "Contribution of the Economic Crisis to the Risk Increase of Poor Mental Health in a Region of Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, November.
    3. Jordi Gumà-Lao, 2022. "The Influence of Economic Factors on the Relationship between Partnership Status and Health: A Gender Approach to the Spanish Case," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-12, March.
    4. Mario Martínez-Jiménez & Judit Vall Castelló, 2020. "Effects of macroeconomic fluctuations on mental health and psychotropic medicine consumption," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 277-297, September.
    5. Michal Brzezinski, 2018. "What accounts for the rise of low self-rated health during the recent economic crisis in Europe?," Working Papers 2018-16, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    6. Curtis, Sarah & Pearce, Jamie & Cherrie, Mark & Dibben, Christopher & Cunningham, Niall & Bambra, Clare, 2019. "Changing labour market conditions during the ‘great recession’ and mental health in Scotland 2007–2011: an example using the Scottish Longitudinal Study and data for local areas in Scotland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 227(C), pages 1-9.
    7. Sara Lourenço & Filomena Carnide & Fernando G Benavides & Raquel Lucas, 2015. "Psychosocial Work Environment and Musculoskeletal Symptoms among 21-Year-Old Workers: A Population-Based Investigation (2011-2013)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.
    8. Modrek, Sepideh & Cullen, Mark R., 2013. "Health consequences of the ‘Great Recession’ on the employed: Evidence from an industrial cohort in aluminum manufacturing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 105-113.
    9. Maria A Barceló & Montserrat Coll-Negre & Gabriel Coll-de-Tuero & Marc Saez, 2016. "Effects of the Financial Crisis on Psychotropic Drug Consumption in a Cohort from a Semi-Urban Region in Catalonia, Spain," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(2), pages 1-25, February.
    10. Quaglio, GianLuca & Karapiperis, Theodoros & Van Woensel, Lieve & Arnold, Elleke & McDaid, David, 2013. "Austerity and health in Europe," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 13-19.
    11. David Bayliss & Wendy Olsen & Pierre Walthery, 2017. "Well-Being During Recession in the UK," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 369-387, June.
    12. Giuseppina Maria Cardella & Brizeida Raquel Hernández-Sánchez & José Carlos Sánchez-García, 2021. "Development and validation of a scale to evaluate students’ future impact perception related to the coronavirus pandemic (C-19FIPS)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-23, November.
    13. van Giesen, Roxanne I. & Pieters, Rik, 2019. "Climbing out of an economic crisis: A cycle of consumer sentiment and personal stress," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 109-124.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Ruhm, Christopher J., 2006. "Deaths rise in good economic times: Evidence from the OECD," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 298-316, December.
    2. Ólafsdóttir, Thorhildur & Hrafnkelsson, Birgir & Thorgeirsson, Gudmundur & Ásgeirsdóttir, Tinna Laufey, 2016. "The tax-free year in Iceland: A natural experiment to explore the impact of a short-term increase in labor supply on the risk of heart attacks," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 14-27.
    3. Christopher Ruhm, 2007. "A healthy economy can break your heart," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(4), pages 829-848, November.
    4. Niclas Kruger & Mikael Svensson, 2010. "Good times are drinking times: empirical evidence on business cycles and alcohol sales in Sweden 1861-2000," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(6), pages 543-546.
    5. Erdal Tekin & Chandler McClellan & Karen Jean Minyard, 2013. "Health and Health Behaviors during the Worst of Times," NBER Working Papers 19234, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Petri Böckerman & Edvard Johansson & Satu Helakorpi & Ritva Prättälä & Erkki Vartiainen & Antti Uutela, 2007. "Does a slump really make you thinner? Finnish micro‐level evidence 1978–2002," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(1), pages 103-107, January.
    7. Max Brüning & Josselin Thuilliez, 2019. "Mortality and Macroeconomic Conditions: What Can We Learn From France?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(5), pages 1747-1764, October.
    8. Garth Heutel & Christopher J. Ruhm, 2016. "Air Pollution and Procyclical Mortality," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 667-706.
    9. Venke Furre Haaland & Kjetil Telle, 2013. "Pro-cyclical mortality. Evidence from Norway," Discussion Papers 766, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    10. Jofre-Bonet, M. & Serra-Sastre, V. & Vandoros, S., 2016. "Better Health in Times of Hardship?," Working Papers 16/09, Department of Economics, City University London.
    11. Svensson, Mikael, 2007. "Do not go breaking your heart: Do economic upturns really increase heart attack mortality?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(4), pages 833-841, August.
    12. Ruhm, Christopher J., 2003. "Good times make you sick," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 637-658, July.
    13. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2006. "Macroeconomic Conditions, Health and Mortality," Chapters, in: Andrew M. Jones (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Sarah A. Burgard & Jennifer A. Ailshire & Lucie Kalousova, 2013. "The Great Recession and Health," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 650(1), pages 194-213, November.
    15. Martin Bassols, Nicolau & Vall Castelló, Judit, 2016. "Effects of the great recession on drugs consumption in Spain," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 103-116.
    16. Chad Cotti & Richard A. Dunn & Nathan Tefft, 2015. "The Dow is Killing Me: Risky Health Behaviors and the Stock Market," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(7), pages 803-821, July.
    17. Propper, Carol & Janke, Katharina & Lee, Kevin & Shields, Kalvinder & Shields, Michael A, 2020. "Macroeconomic Conditions and Health in Britain: Aggregation, Dynamics and Local Area Heterogeneity," CEPR Discussion Papers 14507, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Chad Cotti & David Simon, 2018. "The Impact Of Stock Market Fluctuations On The Mental And Physical Well‐Being Of Children," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1007-1027, April.
    19. McInerney, Melissa & Mellor, Jennifer M., 2012. "Recessions and seniors’ health, health behaviors, and healthcare use: Analysis of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 744-751.
    20. Christopher J. Ruhm, 2016. "Health Effects of Economic Crises," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(S2), pages 6-24, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0056674. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.