Effects of Short- and Long-Term Unemployment on Health Satisfaction: Evidence from German Data.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effects of short- and long-term unemployment on health satisfaction. The data source used for the analysis is the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) which, given its longitudinal structure, allows us to better overcome the problem of endogeneity. Three different models are used in order to assess the effect of short and long-term unemployment and reemployment on health satisfaction. The results show that short-term unemployment has only a significant (and negative) effect for men, while for women, short-term unemployment does not have a significant effect on health satisfaction. Being unemployed for a long period has a significant and negative effect for both men and women. Finally, it can be also concluded from our empirical analysis that reemployment has a significant and positive effect on health satisfaction for both unemployed men and women, independent of how long individuals have been unemployed.