How did the 2008-11 financial crisis affect work-related common mental distress? Evidence from 393 workplaces in Great Britain

TY - JOUR

T1 - How did the 2008-11 financial crisis affect work-related common mental distress? Evidence from 393 workplaces in Great Britain

AU - Kronenberg, Christoph

AU - Boehnke, Jan

N1 - CK gratefully acknowledges funding from the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) Förderkennzeichen (Grant number):01EH1602A via institutional funding for CINCH (Competent IN Competition and Health). CK thanks the German Health Economics Association (DGGÖ) for part-funding the presentation of this work at iHEA 2017 in Boston, USA.

PY - 2019/5

Y1 - 2019/5

N2 - This paper analyses how the 2008-11 financial crisis relates to work-related common mental distress of those with continuous employment during the crisis. The literature connecting the 2008-11 financial crisis to common mental distress (anti-depressant drug use, suicide, etc.) generally estimates a negative effect. We used a sample of 393 workplaces from the 2011 Work and Employment Relations Study (WERS) for which employers and worker representatives agreed on that the crisis affected the workplace. WERS then provides detailed questions about how the financial crisis affected the workplace. We use these questions to show which crisis-induced work-changes are important for work related common mental distress. In the British-context, increased workload and changes in non-financial benefits of work are most relevant worsening work-related common mental distress by 1.8 and 0.9 on a scale from 0-30 respectively.

AB - This paper analyses how the 2008-11 financial crisis relates to work-related common mental distress of those with continuous employment during the crisis. The literature connecting the 2008-11 financial crisis to common mental distress (anti-depressant drug use, suicide, etc.) generally estimates a negative effect. We used a sample of 393 workplaces from the 2011 Work and Employment Relations Study (WERS) for which employers and worker representatives agreed on that the crisis affected the workplace. WERS then provides detailed questions about how the financial crisis affected the workplace. We use these questions to show which crisis-induced work-changes are important for work related common mental distress. In the British-context, increased workload and changes in non-financial benefits of work are most relevant worsening work-related common mental distress by 1.8 and 0.9 on a scale from 0-30 respectively.

KW - 2008-11 financial crisis

KW - 2011 WERS

KW - Common mental distress

KW - Economic shock

KW - Recession

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85063761465

U2 - 10.1016/j.ehb.2019.02.008

DO - 10.1016/j.ehb.2019.02.008

M3 - Article

C2 - 30959347

SN - 1570-677X

VL - 33

SP - 193

EP - 200

JO - Economics and Human Biology

JF - Economics and Human Biology

ER -