Recessions during Working Age affect Health in Later Life

Using SHARE data from eleven countries Tabea Bucher-Koenen, scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, Liudmila Antonova and Fabrizio Mazzonna investigate the effects of economic crises that people experience during their prime working age (20-50) on their health later in life. The results show that individuals who experienced a strong recession, where GDP dropped by almost 1%, rate their subjective health as worse and have worse objectively measured health compared to persons who did not go through an economic crisis. This effect is significantly stronger for people with low levels of education.

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