Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children? - A Study Examining If and How Adolescent Health Is Affected by the Business Cycle

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines the impact of macroeconomic shocks on adolescents health, specifically those aged between 14 and 18 years. Using data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) covering U.S. states from 1999 to 2019, this study investigates various health outcomes and behavioural variables among high-school students. A two-way fixed effects model, that accounts for state- and year-fixed effects, is employed to account for possible confounding factors between states. The findings indicate that physical health outcomes for adolescents tend to move counter-cyclically. During recessions, height-adjusted weight and the likelihood of being obese or overweight decrease. However, mental health displays a slight tendency to move pro-cyclically, while the probability of being underweight is unaffected by the business cycle. Further, the results indicate that males and females exhibit similar effects regarding weight outcomes. However, in contrast to males, females display a significant pro-cyclical pattern in attempted suicide. Furthermore, the age of respondents was found to be insignificant in nearly all point estimates, raising doubts regarding the hypothesis that parental supervision is the channel through which the business cycle affects youth health.