Economic Insecurity and the Weight Gain of Canadian Adults: A Natural Experiment Approach

Barry Watson, Lars Osberg and Shelley Phipps

Canadian Public Policy, 2016, vol. 42, issue 2, 115-131

Abstract: Using four cycles of longitudinal National Population Health Survey (NPHS) data from 1994 to 2001, we examine whether increasing economic insecurity causes weight gain and obesity. In July 1996, Bill C-12 reduced Canadian unemployment insurance benefits considerably, arguably increasing the economic insecurity of Canadians exposed to unemployment risk. Using a difference-in-difference methodology, this paper compares the change in weight gain of adults 25 to 64 before and after this policy shift. For poorly educated males, the onset of unemployment in the post-policy change era is predicted to increase their body mass index (BMI) by 3.2 points.

Date: 2016
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