Abstract
We study the impact of economic crisis on health in Mexico. There have been four wide-scale economic crises in Mexico in the past two decades, the most recent in 1995–96. We find that mortality rates for the very young and the elderly increase or decline less rapidly in crisis years as compared with non-crisis years. In the 1995–96 crisis, mortality rates were about 5 to 7 percent higher in the crisis years compared to the years just prior to the crisis. This translates into a 0.4 percent increase in mortality for the elderly and a 0.06 percent increase in mortality for the very young. We find tentative evidence that economic crises affect mortality by reducing incomes and possibly by placing a greater burden on the medical sector, but not by forcing less healthy members of the population to work or by forcing primary caregivers to go to work.
Highlights
What are the consequences of economic downturns for the well-being of populations?Clearly, incomes fall, poverty increases, and standards of living decline for most
The impact of economic and financial crisis on health is important because economic crises have been both frequent and severe over the past three decades, in developing countries (Glick and Rose, 1998; Corsetti, Presenti and Roubini 1998)
Much of Latin America experienced financial crisis in the 1 980s, and the mid-i 990s saw a wave of crises throughout the developing world
Summary
David M., Felicia Knaul, Rafael Lozano, Oscar Mendez, and Beatriz Zurita. 2002. David M., Felicia Knaul, Rafael Lozano, Oscar Mendez, and Beatriz Zurita. Health outcomes, and aging: Mexico in the 1980s and 1990s.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
