ArticleAmerican journal of epidemiology2014
Do generous unemployment benefit programs reduce suicide rates? A state fixed-effect analysis covering 1968-2008.
Article in American journal of epidemiology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Insecure employment and the social determinants of suicide: a narrative synthesis review.Globalization and health · 2026Pooled it
- Interventions to reduce the impact of unemployment and economic hardship on mental health in the general population: a systematic review.Psychological medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Mental health outcomes in times of economic recession: a systematic literature review.BMC public health · 2016Pooled it
- Employment insecurity and binge drinking in the United States: Implications of unemployment insurance.Preventive medicine · 2026Article
- US State Policy Index for Population Health Analyses.The Milbank quarterly · 2026Article
- Welfare policy and suicide: The role of "supporting the self-reliance of persons in need" program in Japan.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Evidence for Public Policies to Prevent Suicide Death in the United States.Annual review of public health · 2025Review
- State Earned Income Tax Credits and Firearm Suicides.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- The fundamental importance of social insurance for health equity.Health affairs scholar · 2025Article
- Macro-level determinants of gender differences in the prevalence of major depression and alcohol use disorder in the United States and across Europe.Journal of affective disorders · 2025Article
- Methods Used to Evaluate the Health Effects of Social Policies: A Systematic Review.Current epidemiology reports · 2025Article
- Associations of serial negative income shock and all-cause mortality: a longitudinal study in China.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- COVID-19 employment shocks and safety net expansion: Health effects on displaced workers.Social science research · 2024Article
- Uncertainties of Economic Policy and Government Management Stability Played Important Roles in Increasing Suicides in Japan from 2009 to 2023.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Higher unemployment benefits are associated with reduced drug overdose mortality in the United States before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.The International journal on drug policy · 2024Article
- When money and mental health problems pile up: The reciprocal relationship between income and psychological distress.SSM - population health · 2024Article
- Widening the knowledge of non-employment as a risk factor for suicide: a Norwegian register-based population study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Pandemic-Era Unemployment Insurance Access: Implications For Health And Well-Being.Health affairs (Project Hope) · 2022Article
- Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and previous pandemics, epidemics and economic crises on mental health: systematic review.BJPsych open · 2022Review
- Assessing Female Suicide From a Health Equity Viewpoint, U.S. 2004-2018.American journal of preventive medicine · 2022Article
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Abstract
The recent economic recession has led to increases in suicide, but whether US state unemployment insurance programs ameliorate this association has not been examined. Exploiting US state variations in the generosity of benefit programs between 1968 and 2008, we tested the hypothesis that more generous unemployment benefit programs reduce the impact of economic downturns on suicide. Using state linear fixed-effect models, we found a negative additive interaction between unemployment rates and benefits among the US working-age (20-64 years) population (β = -0.57, 95% confidence interval: -0.86, -0.27; P < 0.001). The finding of a negative additive interaction was robust across multiple model specifications. Our results suggest that the impact of unemployment rates on suicide is offset by the presence of generous state unemployment benefit programs, though estimated effects are small in magnitude.
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