The effect of the 2008 economic crisis on the health of residents in the United States of America

It is very important that people have a good health and remain a good health. But the effect of a crisis on health is not clear. It could have a positive effect, but most people belief that a crisis has a negative impact on the health of people. This research investigates what kind of effect the 2008 economic crisis has on the health of people in the USA. The research is executed on an MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) level with multiple regressions and fixed effect regressions. Different health behaviors and health outcomes are regressed on unemployment, reflecting the crisis. A distinction is made between health behaviors and health outcomes, because the crisis can affect the health of people directly measured with the health outcomes, but it also influences the health behaviors. This study first investigates the effect on health behaviors and then moves on to health outcomes. To test if the results remain the same in another context, an additional analysis is implemented; a difference-in-differences analysis on state and national level. Both methods can take into account for time-invariant unobserved factors, reducing the endogeneity that could occur during the study. This study did not find a clear effect on an MSA level, as the 2008 crisis influenced the health behaviors and health outcomes both in a positive and negative way. But on a state and national level it appears that the crisis of 2008 improves the health of people in the USA.