Economic and Health Implications of Long-Term Unemployment: Earnings, Disability Benefits, and Mortality

Couch, Kenneth A.; Reznik, Gayle L.; Tamborini, Christopher R.; Iams, Howard M.

doi:10.1108/s0147-9121(2013)0000038008

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The Summary Earnings Record (SER) provides respondents' annual Social Security-covered earnings. These administrative files have been used in numerous studies (Couch et al 2013;Rendall et al 2011;Rupp and Davies 2004;von Wachter et al 2011).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Long-Term Health Implications of Marital Disruption: Divorce, Work Limits, and Social Security Disability Benefits Among Men

2015

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We provide new evidence on the long-term impact of divorce on work disability among U.S. men. Using data from the 2004 Survey of Income and Program Participation linked to U.S. Social Security Administration records, we assess the relationship between divorce and subsequent self-reports of work limitations and the receipt of federal disability benefits. The examination of self-reports and administrative records of medically qualified benefits provides dual confirmation of key relationships. We compare men who experienced a marital dissolution between 1975 and 1984 with continuously married men for 20 years following divorce using fixed-effects and propensity score matching models, and choose a sample to help control for selection into divorce. On average, we find that divorce is not associated with an increased probability of self-reported work limitations or receipt of disability benefits over the long run. However, among those who do not remarry, we do find that divorce increases men's long-term probability of both self-reported work limitations and federal disability benefit receipt. Lack of marital resources may drive this relationship. Alternative estimates that do not control for selection into divorce demonstrate that selection bias can substantially alter findings regarding the relationship between marital status changes and subsequent health.

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Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Long-Term Health Implications of Marital Disruption: Divorce, Work Limits, and Social Security Disability Benefits Among Men

2015

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“…We limit our study of these earnings data to the year 2008 to minimize the possibly unique effects associated with the Great Recession (e.g., excessive unemployment, wage stagnation, financial depreciation). A number of studies have used Social Security earnings data (Couch et al 2013a, b; Haas et al 2011; Haider and Solon 2006; Kim and Tamborini 2012; Tamborini and Iams 2011), but our analysis is the first to use them to investigate differences in lifetime earnings by education. More-detailed descriptions of the SSA administrative records and survey matches may be found elsewhere (McNabb et al 2009; Tamborini and Iams 2011).…”

Section: Analytic Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Education and Lifetime Earnings in the United States

2015

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Differences in lifetime earnings by educational attainment have been of great research and policy interest. Although a large literature examines earnings differences by educational attainment, research on lifetime earnings—which refers to total accumulated earnings from entry into the labor market until retirement—remains limited because of the paucity of adequate data. Using data that match respondents in the Survey of Income and Program Participation to their longitudinal tax earnings as recorded by the Social Security Administration, we estimate the 50-year work career effects of education on lifetime earnings for men and women. By overcoming the purely synthetic cohort approach, our results provide a more realistic appraisal of actual patterns of lifetime earnings. Detailed estimates are provided for gross lifetime earnings by education; net lifetime earnings after controlling for covariates associated with the probability of obtaining a bachelor’s degree; and the net present 50-year lifetime value of education at age 20. In addition, we provide estimates that include individuals with zero earnings and disability. We also assess the adequacy of the purely synthetic cohort approach, which uses age differences in earnings observed in cross-sectional surveys to approximate lifetime earnings. Overall, our results confirm the persistent positive effects of higher education on earnings over different stages of the work career and over a lifetime, but also reveal notably smaller net effects on lifetime earnings compared with previously reported estimates. We discuss the implications of these and other findings.

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“…Additionally, Stuckler and Basu (2013) estimate the number of suicides in the US that are specifically linked to Great Recession joblessness and find that states with higher unemployment rates have higher suicide rates. Couch et al (2013) examine the impact of long-term unemployment on health and economic outcomes by studying the double-dip US recession during 1980-82. They find that 20 years later, long-term unemployment continues to be associated with higher mortality.…”

Section: A Deadly Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A spell of unemployment causes a permanent loss in earnings over a lifetime (Couch et al 2013;Abraham et al 2016). The unemployed are sicker and spend more on healthcare costs.…”

Section: Costs On Individualsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unemployment: The Silent Epidemic

Tcherneva

2017

SSRN Journal

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in August 2017The Levy Economics Institute Working Paper Collection presents research in progress by Levy Institute scholars and conference participants. The purpose of the series is to disseminate ideas to and elicit comments from academics and professionals.Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, founded in 1986, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independently funded research organization devoted to public service. Through scholarship and economic research it generates viable, effective public policy responses to important economic problems that profoundly affect the quality of life in the United States and abroad. ABSTRACTThis paper examines two key aspects of unemployment-its propagation mechanism and socioeconomic costs. It identifies a key feature of this macroeconomic phenomenon: it behaves like a disease. A detailed assessment of the transmission mechanism and the existing pecuniary and nonpecuniary costs of unemployment suggests a fundamental shift in the policy responses to tackling joblessness. To stem the contagion effect and its outsized social and economic impact, fiscal policy can be designed around two criteria for successful disease interventionpreparedness and prevention. The paper examines how a job guarantee proposal uniquely meets those two requirements. It is a policy response whose merits include much more than its macroeconomic stabilization features, as discussed in the literature. It is, in a sense, a method of inoculation against the vile effects of unemployment. The paper discusses several preventative features of the program.

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Economic and Health Implications of Long-Term Unemployment: Earnings, Disability Benefits, and Mortality

Cited by 17 publications

References 17 publications

The Long-Term Health Implications of Marital Disruption: Divorce, Work Limits, and Social Security Disability Benefits Among Men

The Long-Term Health Implications of Marital Disruption: Divorce, Work Limits, and Social Security Disability Benefits Among Men

Education and Lifetime Earnings in the United States

Unemployment: The Silent Epidemic

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