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Broke, Ill, and Obese: The Effect of Household Debt on Health

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  • Keese, Matthias
  • Schmitz, Hendrik

Abstract

We analyze the effect of household indebtedness on different health outcomes using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1999-2009. To establish a causal effect, we rely on (a) fixed-effects methods, (b) a subsample of constantly employed individuals, and (c) lagged debt variables to rule out problems of reverse causality. We apply different measures of household indebtedness, such as the percentage shares of household income spent on consumer credit and home loan repayments (which indicate the severity of household indebtedness) and a binary variable of relative overindebtedness (which indicates a precarious debt situation). We find all debt measures to be strongly correlated with health satisfaction, mental health, and obesity. Controlling for unobserved heterogeneity and reversed causality we find evidence that household debt also causally deteriorates physical and mental health. However, there is no causal effect on being obese.

Suggested Citation

  • Keese, Matthias & Schmitz, Hendrik, 2010. "Broke, Ill, and Obese: The Effect of Household Debt on Health," Ruhr Economic Papers 234, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:rwirep:234
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    Cited by:

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    2. Averett, Susan L. & Smith, Julie K., 2012. "Indebted and Overweight: The Link Between Weight and Household Debt," IZA Discussion Papers 6898, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Leonardo Becchetti & Stefano Caiazza & Decio Coviello, 2013. "Financial education and investment attitudes in high schools: evidence from a randomized experiment," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(10), pages 817-836, May.
    4. Ravindra HEWA KURUPPUGE, & Sisira Kumara NARADDA GAMAGE, & Alexandru Mircea Nedelea, 2017. "Credit Cards As A Determinant Of Social Capital: A Study Of Rational Behaviour Of Urbanised Consumers," EcoForum, "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava, Romania, Faculty of Economics and Public Administration - Economy, Business Administration and Tourism Department., vol. 6(1), pages 1-34, January.
    5. A. Smurygina & M. Gagarina & А. Смурыгина & М. Гагарина, 2016. "Ограниченная Рациональность: Психологический Анализ Поведения Должников // Bounded Rationality: Psychological Analysis Of Debt Behaviour," Review of Business and Economics Studies // Review of Business and Economics Studies, Финансовый Университет // Financial University, vol. 4(1), pages 75-84.
    6. Laura Argys & Andrew Friedson & M. Melinda Pitts, 2016. "Killer Debt: The Impact of Debt on Mortality," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2016-14, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    7. Vanessa Mak & Jurgen Braspenning, 2012. "Errare humanum est: Financial Literacy in European Consumer Credit Law," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 307-332, September.
    8. Averett, Susan L. & Smith, Julie K., 2014. "Financial hardship and obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 201-212.
    9. Staudigel, Matthias, 2016. "A soft pillow for hard times? Economic insecurity, food intake and body weight in Russia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 198-212.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    debt; health satisfaction; mental health; obesity; fixed-effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior

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