What do we know about the impact of economic recessions on mortality inequalities? A critical review

Historically, there has been a debate on the effects of recessions on population health, and especially on mortality and its distribution across different social groups. This paper contributes to this discussion by means of a critical review of the research on the impact of economic recessions on mo...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Benach, Joan, Padilla-Pozo, Álvaro, Martínez-Herrera, Eliana, Molina-Betancur, Juan Camilo, Gutiérrez, Manuela, Pericàs, Juan, Gutiérrez-Zamora Navarro, Mariana, Zografos, Christos
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/56859
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/56859
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114733
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Economic recessions
Mortality inequalities
Critical review
Socioeconomic indicators
Descripción
Sumario:Historically, there has been a debate on the effects of recessions on population health, and especially on mortality and its distribution across different social groups. This paper contributes to this discussion by means of a critical review of the research on the impact of economic recessions on mortality inequalities in the period 1980–2020. We analyzed 19 studies according to their mortality outcomes, socioeconomic indicators, design, analysis, and main findings. Twelve studies focused on European countries or urban areas, two on Asian countries, two on Russia, one on Asia and Europe, one on the USA, and one in Somalia. Five articles included cross-country comparisons (four between European countries or cities and one between Asian and European countries). The Great Recession of 2008 was the most researched economic crisis, followed by country-specific crises in the 90s, the fall of the Soviet Union, and some crises during the 80s. Most studies (n = 15) showed an overall or partial increase in mortality inequalities after an economic recession. However, two papers found a decrease in mortality inequalities due to the worsening of the health of the upper and middle classes, one article found a decrease in inequalities due to a general improvement in population health, and a study found a “slow-down” effect of pre-existent mortality inequalities.