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Older Americans’ health and the Great Recession

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  • Thomas Hyclak
  • Chad Meyerhoefer
  • Larry Taylor

Abstract

We use 2009 American Association for Retired Persons and Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data to determine how older Americans respond to job loss, decreases in housing and financial wealth, and threats to health insurance. Some respond by leaving prescriptions unfilled, postponing needed health care, and/or stopping 401K contributions. The MEPS confirms our conclusions about the importance of job loss and health insurance for those 45 years old and older. Furthermore, direct measures of mental well-being from the MEPS demonstrate the negative impact of the Great Recession. Overall, our study fills a gap in the economics literature on the well-being of older citizenry during economic recession. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Hyclak & Chad Meyerhoefer & Larry Taylor, 2015. "Older Americans’ health and the Great Recession," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 413-436, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:13:y:2015:i:2:p:413-436
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-013-9197-6
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Recession; Elderly; Mental health; Permanent income hypothesis; D12; J14; J64;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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