Economic Insecurity and Health

Abstract

We here show that individual-level economic insecurity, based on the time profile of economic resources, is detrimental to both physical and mental health in long-run Australian panel data. This relationship is found in panel data, comparing an individual’s change in economic security over time to the changes in her health. A heterogeneity analysis reveals that economic insecurity is particularly detrimental to the health of the most-deprived, those over the age of 30, and men rather than women.