Work

Health Effects of Unemployment Benefit Program Generosity

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: We assessed the impact of unemployment benefit programs on the health of the unemployed. METHODS: We linked US state law data on maximum allowable unemployment benefit levels between 1985 and 2008 to individual self-rated health for heads of households in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and implemented state and year fixed-effect models. RESULTS: Unemployment was associated with increased risk of reporting poor health among men in both linear probability (b=0.0794; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.0623, 0.0965) and logistic models (odds ratio=2.777; 95% CI=2.294, 3.362), but this effect is lower when the generosity of state unemployment benefits is high (b for interaction between unemployment and benefits=-0.124; 95% CI=-0.197, -0.0523). A 63% increase in benefits completely offsets the impact of unemployment on self-reported health. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that unemployment benefits may significantly alleviate the adverse health effects of unemployment among men.

Source: American Journal of Public Health

DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2014.302253

Authors: Jonathan Cylus, M. Maria Glymour, Mauricio Avendano

Institutions: Harvard University, London School of Economics and Political Science

Language: English

Topic: Employment and Welfare Studies

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, No poverty, Decent work and economic growth, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute on Aging, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development