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

Huixia Wang, Chenggang Wang and Timothy Halliday
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Huixia Wang: Hunan University, School of Economy and Trade
Chenggang Wang: University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics
Timothy Halliday: University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics, University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization

No 201615, Working Papers from University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics

Abstract: We employ granular information on local macro-economic conditions from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to estimate the impact of the Great Recession on health and health-related behaviors. Among working-aged adults, a one percentage point increase in the county-level unemployment rate resulted in a 2.4-3.2 percent increase in chronic drinking, a 1.8-1.9 percent decrease in mental health status, and a 7.8-8.9 percent increase in reports of poor health. Notably, there was heterogeneity in the impact of the recession across socioeconomic groups. Particularly, obesity and overweight rates increased for blacks and high school educated people, while there is weak evidence that they decreased for whites and the college educated. Along some dimensions, the Great Recession may have widened some socioeconomic health disparities in the United States.

Keywords: Great Recession; Health Behaviors; Health Outcomes; Obesity; Inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-mac and nep-sog
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