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The perils of returning to school—New insights into the impact of school holidays on youth suicides

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  • Chandler, Vincent
  • Heger, Dörte
  • Wuckel, Christiane

Abstract

Taking advantage of temporal and geographical variations in the timing of school holidays in Germany, this paper finds that school holidays cause a 16 percent decrease in the probability of youth suicide. This effect is constant across different types of holidays (fall, Christmas, winter, Easter, Pentecost, and summer). Moreover, we find evidence of a spike in suicide propensity in the first two days following the end of school holidays. The results are robust to the inclusion of a series of control variables and to different definitions of youth. Overall, this paper suggests that school holidays have a beneficial impact on the well-being of students and that suicide prevention efforts are particularly important in the days following the end of holidays.

Suggested Citation

  • Chandler, Vincent & Heger, Dörte & Wuckel, Christiane, 2022. "The perils of returning to school—New insights into the impact of school holidays on youth suicides," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:86:y:2022:i:c:s0272775721001187
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2021.102205
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    School; Suicide; Teenagers; Bullying; Stress;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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