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Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 404
Hosted By:
National Economic Association
Gender Health and Elderly Health Care
Paper Session
Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM
- Chair: Vidhura Tennekoon, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
The Impact of a Permanent Income Shock at the Retirement on Health Outcomes and Risky Health Behaviors
Abstract
Significant increases in longevity in the US during the past decades has required the Social Security Administration to increase the full retirement age (FRA) considered for the purpose of paying social security benefits gradually from 65 to 67, which changes the optimal retirement age of a given individual. For a low income, less healthy individual the retirement age could be more binding than for a high income, healthy individual and therefore they are less likely to delay retirement in response to the increased FRA and this is associated with a small but permanent income shock which has the potential to widen health disparities across different income groups. We look at the changes to a person's health outcomes and health related life style choices after retirement using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). In addition, we also investigate how these effects, if any, vary across different income groups. We also check how the changes to full retirement age considered for social security eligibility have affected these relationships. We exploit the panel nature of the dataset and use triple-difference and quadruple-difference research designs to avoid the bias due to endogeneity and reverse causality. As our results reveal, retirement is associated with a negative health shock even though retirement encourages limiting risky health behaviors. The increase in FRA appear to increase health disparities.The Impact of Unintended Pregnancy on Birth Weight: The Role of Selection Due to Abortions
Abstract
Pregnancy intention has been hypothesized to affect birth outcomes. The empirical findings, however, are mixed. We join this debate by investigating how the selection due to intentional and unintentional abortions affects the impact of pregnancy intention on birthweight. We employ a multi-level selection model which corrects both selection and underreported bias of abortions. Our results suggest that the selection effects may not be a serious issue when estimating the birthweight penalty of unwanted pregnancies. The penalty of unwantedness can be completely explained by socio-economic factors determining the pregnancy intention.Factors Affecting Access and Use of Health Care Facilities by the Aged: A Case Study of China, Ghana and India
Abstract
Access to health in developing countries still remain a challenge. Factors such as infrastructure, high doctor to patient ratio as well as long waiting times contribute to this problem. People 50 years and over have more health issues and also need more health services. The World Health Organization SAGE longitudinal studies collects data on adults aged 50 years and above from a nationally representative sample in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russian Federation and South Africa. We analyzed the access and use of health care services in China, Ghana and India. Preliminary results show that factors such as current health needs, access to transportation and health insurance affected the access and use of health services among the aged. Additionally, we find significant differences across gender. Our study has several policy implications. First health services are very important to the aged hence it is important for policy measures to focus on providing the aged with free health services as well as access to these health services.Discussant(s)
Zhuang Hao
,
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Eric Asare
,
Texas Tech University
Mercy Palamuleni
,
McNeese State University
Zarrina Jurakulova
,
Denison University
JEL Classifications
- J1 - Demographic Economics