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Health and Health Inequality during the Great Recession: Evidence from the PSID

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  • Wang, Chenggang

    (University of Hawaii at Manoa)

  • Wang, Huixia

    (Hunan University)

  • Halliday, Timothy J.

    (University of Hawaii at Manoa)

Abstract

We estimate the impact of the Great Recession of 2007–2009 on health outcomes in the United States. We show that a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate resulted in a 7.8–8.8 percent increase in reports of poor health. Mental health was also adversely impacted and reports of chronic drinking increased. These effects were concentrated among those with strong labor force attachments. Whites, the less educated, and women were the most impacted demographic groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Chenggang & Wang, Huixia & Halliday, Timothy J., 2017. "Health and Health Inequality during the Great Recession: Evidence from the PSID," IZA Discussion Papers 10808, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10808
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    3. Lizhong Peng & Jie Chen & Xiaohui Guo, 2022. "Macroeconomic conditions and health‐related outcomes in the United States: A metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area‐level analysis between 2004 and 2017," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 3-20, January.
    4. Bencsik, Panka & Halliday, Timothy J. & Mazumder, Bhashkar, 2023. "The intergenerational transmission of mental and physical health in the United Kingdom," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. Federico Belotti & Joanna Kopinska & Alessandro Palma & Andrea Piano Mortari, 2022. "Health status and the Great Recession. Evidence from electronic health records," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(8), pages 1770-1799, August.
    6. Zhao, Yuejun, 2023. "Job displacement and the mental health of households: Burden sharing counteracts spillover," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    7. Li Donni, Paolo, 2019. "The unobserved pattern of material hardship and health among older Americans," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 31-42.
    8. Timothy M. Smeeding, 2018. "The PSID in Research and Policy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 680(1), pages 29-47, November.
    9. Ross Abram & Margherita Borella & Mariacristina De Nardi & Rory McGee & Nicolò Russo, 2024. "Health Inequality and Economic Disparities by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 099, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    10. Valerie Mueller & Karen Grépin & Atonu Rabbani & Anne Ngunjiri & Amy Oyekunle & Clare Wenham, 2023. "Domestic Burdens Amid Covid-19 and Women’s Mental Health in Middle-Income Africa," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 192-218, April.
    11. Elena Puerto-Casasasnovas & Jorge Galiana-Richart & María Paola Mastrantonio-Ramos & Francisco López-Muñoz & Alfredo Rocafort-Nicolau, 2023. "Direct and Indirect Management Models in Public Health in the Framework of Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-11, January.
    12. 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.
    13. Yana Vierboom, 2017. "The contribution of differences in adiposity to educational disparities in mortality in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(54), pages 1735-1760.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Great Recession; health behaviors; health outcomes; inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

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