In his article with the provocative title ‘‘Are Recessions Good for Your Health?’’, Ruhm (J. Health Econ. 21(4) (2000) 659) has found robust and consistent evidence that the total mortality rate, age-specific mortality rates as well as most specific mortality causes are pro-cyclical. His finding that high unemployment rates are associated with lower mortality and vice versa stands in stark contrast to Brenner’s earlier work, who found the opposite effect, possibly after a time lag. Ruhm controls for state-specific effects in a panel of US states over the period 1972–1991, whereas Brenner’s work is based on time-series analysis. Extending and improving upon Ruhm’s original analysis, we analyse the effect of state unemployment and economic growth rates on mortality in the states of Germany over the period 1980–2000, both in a static and a dynamic econometric model. Controlling for state-specific effects, we find evidence that aggregate mortality rates for all age groups taken together as well as most specific age groups are lower in recessions. The same is true for mortality from cardiovascular diseases, pneumonia and influenza, motor vehicle accidents and suicides, but not for necessarily for other specific mortality causes. In particular, there is never a statistically significant effect on homicides, other external effects and malignant neoplasms. There are also few differences apparent between the effect on male and female mortality. If we do not control for state-specific effects, then we often arrive at the opposite result with higher unemployment being associated with higher mortality. This suggests that a failure to control for time-invariant state-specific effects leads to omitted variable bias, which would erroneously suggest that mortality rates move counter-cyclically. Overall, we can confirm Ruhm’s main finding for another country: recessions lower some, but not all, mortality rates in the case of Germany.

Based on the number of deaths of despair in 2018 and projected levels of unemployment from 2020 to 2029, it is estimated that the additional number of deaths in 2023 could range from 2,017 to 21,457 depending on the rate of economic recovery after the COVID-19 recession. This statistic shows the possible additional deaths of despair following the COVID-19 recession for select economic scenarios, given a 1.6 percent increase in unemployment, in the United States from 2020 to 2029.

Mortality rates (per 10,000 prisoners) and the relative percentage change in prisoner mortality for forty-four states reporting to the NCRP, 2000–2014.

Linkages between climate and mental health are often theorized but remain poorly quantified. In particular, it is unknown whether suicide, a leading cause of death globally, is systematically affected by climatic conditions. Using multiple decades of comprehensive data from both the US and Mexico, we find that suicide rates rise 0.7% in US counties and 2.1% in Mexican municipalities for a 1C increase in monthly average temperature. This effect is similar in hotter versus cooler regions and has not diminished over time, indicating limited historical adaptation. Analysis of depressive language in >600 million social media updates further suggests that mental wellbeing deteriorates during warmer periods. We project that unmitigated climate change (RCP8.5) could result in a combined 9-40 thousand additional suicides (95% CI) across the US and Mexico by 2050, representing an change in suicide rates comparable to the estimated impact of economic recessions, suicide prevention programs, or gun restriction laws.

Objectives: To examine recent age-period-cohort effects on suicide among foreign-born individuals, a particularly vulnerable sociodemographic group in Spain.Methods: Using 2000–2019 mortality data from Spain’s National Institute of Statistics, we estimated age-period-cohort effects on suicide mortality, stratified by foreign-born status (native- vs. foreign-born) and, among the foreign-born, by Spanish citizenship status, a proxy for greater socioeconomic stability.Results: Annual suicide mortality rates were lower among foreign- than native-born individuals. There was heterogeneity in age-period-cohort effects between study groups. After 2010, suicide mortality increased markedly among the foreign-born—especially for female cohorts born around 1950, and slightly among native-born women—especially among female cohorts born after the 1960s. Among native-born men, suicide increased linearly with age and remained stable over time. Increases in suicide among the foreign-born were driven by increases among individuals without Spanish citizenship—especially among cohorts born after 1975.Conclusion: After 2010, suicide in Spain increased markedly among foreign-born individuals and slightly among native-born women, suggesting an association between the downstream effects of the 2008 economic recession and increases in suicide mortality among socioeconomically vulnerable populations.

In 1820, the islands of present-day New Zealand had a population of approximately 100,000 people. This figure would fall until the early 1840s, partly as a result of European diseases brought by colonizers, and a series of destructive inter-tribal wars among the Māori peoples. These conflicts were named the Musket Wars due to the European weapons whose introduction instigated the conflicts, and the wars saw the deaths of between 20,000 and 40,000 Māori, from 1807 to 1837. After falling to just 82 thousand in the 1840s, the population would begin to rise again in 1841 following the establishment of New Zealand as an official British colony, with a strong promotion of European settlement by British citizens sponsored by the Church of England. European migration to New Zealand was low in these early decades, but increased in the mid-19th century, particularly following the discovery of gold in New Zealand’s South Island in the 1860s. This growth would continue throughout the 1870s, in part the result of a strong promotion of mass migration from Britain by Premier Julius Vogel’s administration.

Early 20th century However, between 1881 and the 1920s, the New Zealand government heavily restricted Asiatic migration to the islands, resulting in a fall of population growth rate, which would remain until the Second World War. The country would experience a dip in population during the First World War, in which New Zealand would suffer approximately 18,000 military fatalities, and another 9,000 lost to the coinciding Spanish Flu epidemic. The population would stagnate again in the Second World War, which resulted in the death of almost 12,000 New Zealanders. In the years following the war, New Zealand would see a significant increase in population due to the mixture of a baby boom and a migrant spike from Europe and Asia, following a large demand for unskilled labor. Recent decades This increase continued for several decades, until international factors, such as the oil crises of 1973 and 1979, and the UK's accession to the European Economic Communities (which ended most of New Zealand's trade agreements with Britain; it's largest trade partner), greatly weakened New Zealand's economy in the 1970s. As a result, population growth stagnated during the 1970s, while economic problems persisted into the early 2000s. In contrast, the Great Recession of 2008 did not impact New Zealand as severely as most other developed nations, which allowed the economy to emerge as one of the fastest growing in the world, also leading to dropped unemployment levels and increased living standards. In 2020, with a population of almost five million people, New Zealand is regarded as one of the top countries in the world in terms of human development, quality of life and social freedoms.