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Births, Deaths, and New Deal Relief during the Great Depression
Abstract
The article examines the impact of New Deal relief programs on infant mortality, non-infant mortality, and general fertility rates in major U.S. cities between 1929 and 1940. Effects are estimated using a variety of specifications and techniques for a panel of 114 cities that reported information on relief spending between 1929 and 1940. The significant rise in relief spending during the New Deal contributed to reductions in infant mortality, suicide rates, and some other causes of death, while contributing to increases in the general fertility rate. Similar to Ruhm's (2000) findings for the modern United States, the article finds that many types of death rates were pro-cyclical during the 1930s. Estimates of the relief costs associated with saving a life (adjusted for inflation) are similar to those found in studies of modern social insurance programs.
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Cited by
From home to hospital: the evolution of childbirth in the United States, 1928–1940
Thomasson, M. A., & Treber, J. (2008) · Explorations in Economic History · doi:10.1016/j.eeh.2007.07.001 · Cited by 100
No automation please, we’re British: technology and the prospects for work
Spencer, D., & Slater, G. (2020) · Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society · doi:10.1093/cjres/rsaa003 · Cited by 26
Ando, M., & Furuichi, M. (2020) · doi:10.1101/2020.11.16.20232850 · Cited by 19
“Another related article suggests that counter-cyclical economic policies are effective for the prevention of suicide (Christian et al. 2019; Stuckler et al. 2009; Fishback et al. 2007).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Fishback, P. V., Haines, M. R., & Kantor, S.
- Venue
- Review of Economics and Statistics
- Publisher
- MIT Press - Journals
- Published
- 2007-02
- Volume
- 89
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-14
- ISSN
- 0034-6535 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-9142
- OpenAlex
- W2891944429
- Cited by
- 189
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 19.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
