Tag: Janet Currie

Must-Read: Janet Currie and Hannes Schwandt: Mortality Inequality: The Good News from a County-Level Approach

Posted on by Brad DeLong

Must-Read: Janet Currie and Hannes Schwandt: Mortality Inequality: The Good News from a County-Level Approach: “Inequality in mortality rates are a good indicator of economic wellbeing…

…but most of the existing literature does little to distinguish between developments in infants and adults. This column uses extensive US data to analyse mortality trends across all age groups. It finds that the health of the next generation in the poorest areas of the US has improved significantly and the race gap has declined significantly. Underlying explanations include declines in the prevalence of smoking and improved nutrition, and a major cause is social policies that target the most disadvantaged.

Must-read: Janet Currie: “The Great Recession and the Health of Mothers”

Posted on by Brad DeLong

Must-Read: Janet Currie: The Great Recession and the Health of Mothers: “Studies of the effects of economic fluctuations on health have come to wildly different conclusions…

…This may be because the effects are different for different groups. Using US data, this column looks at the health consequences of the Great Recession on mothers, a sub-population that has thus far been largely neglected in the literature. Increases in unemployment are found to have large negative health effects and to increase incidences of smoking and substance abuse among mothers. These effects appear to be concentrated on disadvantaged groups such as minorities, and point to short- and long-term consequences for their children.