Full Citation
Title: Paralyzed by Panic: Measuring the Effect of School Closures during the 1916 Polio Pandemic on Educational Attainment
Citation Type: Working Paper
Publication Year: 2017
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Abstract: The early 20th Century saw advances in U.S. public health infrastructure and policy. The 1916 poliomyelitis pandemic, the largest in U.S. history, tested these new advancements. While over 23,000 cases were diagnosed, public health quarantines expanded the social disruptions caused by the pandemic. The pandemic occurred during the start of the 1916 school year and schools were systematically closed in response to the viral outbreak. This paper uses state level 1916 polio morbidity as a proxy for schooling disruptions. We find that persons who were high school age during the pandemic had less educational attainment to their slightly older peers in 1940. These effects suggest that social disruptions caused by disease can be magnified by policies meant to mitigate the outbreak.
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Authors: Meyers, Keith; Thomasson, Melissa, A
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Publication Number: 23890
Institution: NBER
Pages: 30
Publisher Location: Cambridge, MA
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Education, Health
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