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The health effects of leaving school in a bad economy
1Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States.
Abstract:
This study investigates the lasting health effects of leaving school in a bad economy. Three empirical patterns motivate this study: Leaving school in a bad economy has persistent and negative career effects, career and health outcomes are correlated, and fluctuations in contemporaneous economic conditions affect health in the short-run. I draw data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Age 40 Health Supplement. Members of my sample left school between 1976 and 1992. I find that men who left school when the school-leaving state unemployment rate was high have worse health at age 40 than otherwise similar men, while leaving school in a bad economy lowers depressive symptoms at age 40 among women. A 1 percentage point increase in the school-leaving state unemployment rate leads to a 0.5% to 18% reduction in the measured health outcomes among men and a 6% improvement in depressive symptoms among women.
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