Working Paper
Heterogeneous Effects of Unemployment on Mental Health, Depending on Gender and Refugee Status: Evidence from Germany and the United States
Authors:
Anmol Kanotra ,
London School of Economics
Kerry Neitzel,
London School of Economics
Maithili Modi,
London School of Economics
Xuyi Yang,
London School of Economics
Abi Thomas
London School of Economics
Abstract
In this paper we study how the effect of unemployment on mental health differs depending on gender and refugee status using data from Germany and the United States. For the Germany case study, the effect of unemployment on life satisfaction is estimated using a panel data regression model. To capture possible heterogeneous effects depending on refugee status and gender, interaction terms between employment status and refugee status as well as between employment status and gender are included, yielding two separate regression models. For the United States, a similar model is used with an interaction term for gender and unemployment. Our main findings suggest that females tend to be more adversely affected by unemployment. Applying our model to the German data, the derived results suggest the opposite, i.e. that men are more impacted by unemployment in terms of mental health. Moreover, the analysis suggests that refugee’s mental health is more severely impacted by unemployment, though this effect statistically insignificant. Consistent with theory and literature, our primary findings indicate that there are significant heterogeneities in the effect of unemployment depending on individual characteristics.
How to Cite:
Kanotra, A., Neitzel, K., Modi, M., Yang, X. and Thomas, A., 2020. Heterogeneous Effects of Unemployment on Mental Health, Depending on Gender and Refugee Status: Evidence from Germany and the United States. Rationale, 1, pp.1–22.
Published on
03 Apr 2020.
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