Erschienen:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2023
Erschienen in:
Social Indicators Research, 166 (2023) 3, Seite 627-643
Sprache:
Englisch
DOI:
10.1007/s11205-023-03081-1
ISSN:
0303-8300;
1573-0921
Entstehung:
Anmerkungen:
Beschreibung:
AbstractWe explore the effect of unemployment on mental health, using data from Finnish municipalities for the period 2002–2019. We measure mental illness using a mental morbidity index, as well as mental health care utilization and the use of antidepressants. There are significant differences across municipalities in Finland in both prevalence of mental health issues and illnesses, along with unemployment. Establishing a causal link between these two variables is challenging because of their reverse causality and joint determination. Using instrumental variable estimation, we establish a causal effect from unemployment to mental health. We present a strong connection between unemployment and mental health, especially for males between 25 and 64 years of age. Similar connection is not found among younger or older males, nor among females. Our findings are robust, since the results hold for various mental health measures. Our results reflect the possibility of differing mental health effects across the sources of unemployment.