Does the economy also affect your health?
It’s clear that long-term economic gains lead to improvements in a population’s overall health, in developing and industrialized societies alike.
Economic studies suggest that people tend not to take care of themselves in boom times-drinking too much (especially before driving), dinning on fat-laden restaurant meals and skipping exercise and doctors’ appointments because of work related time commitments.
Because value of time is higher in good times, people work more and do less of the things that are good for them, like cooking at home and exercising. Moreover people face more stress due to the rigors of hard work during booms.”.
Miller, who is studying the effects of fluctuating coffee prices on health in Colombia, says that even though falling prices are bad for the economy, they appear to improve health and mortality rates.
When prices are low, laborers have more time to care for their children.
“When coffee prices suddenly rise, people work harder on their coffee plots and spends less time doing things around the home, including things that are good for their children,” he said. “Because the things that matter most for infant and child health in rural Colombia are not expensive, but require a substantial amount of time such as breast feeding, bringing clean water from far away, taking your child to a distant health clinic for free vaccinations infant and child mortality rates rise.”
However, the issue that may matter most in an economic crisis is whether the slump widens the gap between rich and poor, and whether there is an adequate health safety net available to those who have lost their jobs.
Source: TOI
