The Economy and Suicide

Bijou Yang

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 1992, vol. 51, issue 1, 87-99

Abstract: Abstract. The suicide rate for the U.S.A. for the period of 1940–84 was posited to be the consequence of the interplay of economic and social variables. The single equation regression was applied to the suicide rates for the total population and for the four sex by race social groups. The results indicated that: (1) suicide rates did not increase during the economic booms and busts as predicted by Durkheim, and the change depended upon the social groups involved; (2) the unemployment rate had significant detrimental impact only on the white male suicide rate; (3) the female labor force participation rate had beneficial impact on both the white and non‐white female suicide rates; (4) the divorce rate was the only variable that had a consistent impact for all social groups; and (5) membership in the Catholic Church had a positive association with the suicide rates.

Date: 1992
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