Macroeconomic Crisis and the Gender Gap in Mental Health: Evidence from the 2009 Great Recession

Abstract

This paper uses a detailed country-level dataset to study how the 2009 Great Recession differently affected gender-specific mental health and the gender gap in mental health in the USA. The country’s mental health is measured in terms of the population share suffering from mental health and substance use disorders, where higher numbers denote worse mental health outcomes. The results suggest that overall mental health in the USA worsened due to post-recession increase in economic distress. Despite the evidence that the recession increased the relative unemployment of American males, I find inconclusive evidence of the recession’s impact on male mental health. In contrast, female mental health observed worsening post-2009 Great Recession, culminating in the substantial widening of the already high gender gap in mental health in the USA. The estimates indicate that female mental health worsened by around 3.1% of the pre-treatment mean, whereas the gender gap in mental health widened by the 14.8% of the pre-treatment mean. By referring to existing research, I underline non-economic channels (increased household-level stress, worsened relationship quality, increased domestic violence) that help explain how the crisis-induced economic distress translated into the widened gender gap in mental health.