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Title: The Effects of Experiencing the Great Depression as a Child on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2009

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Abstract: Fishback and Thomasson use twentieth century data to examine how macroeconomic conditions just before and after birth affect infants when they become adults. Their analysis focuses on the worst downturn ever experienced in the United States — the Great Depression -- although they do not restrict their analysis to the Depression period. Merging data reported by respondents in decadal U.S. Census microdata from 1970-80 with information on the path of state per capita income during the individual's childhood years in the state of birth, the authors find that individuals born in poorer states (and in states with lower rates of income growth after their birth) are more likely to be high school dropouts, earn lower incomes, and have greater rates of disability than individuals born in states with higher incomes, even after controlling for socioeconomic characteristics such as race and education, year of birth, state of birth, and state of current residence. These results suggest that fluctuations in state-wide economic activity during the infant and early childhood period may have long-term consequences for an individual's socioeconomic status and health outcomes.

Url: https://conference.nber.org/conferences/2009/CS09/summary.html

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Authors: Fishback, Price V; Thomasson, Melissa A.

Conference Name: The National Bureau of Economic Research

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

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