“The study aims to find out whether and how the economic crash influenced alcohol and tobacco consumption, specifically considering changes in the labour market, i.e. the reduction in the number of work hours and lowering of real income. Such labour market changes can influence health behaviour, i.e. how people invest in their present and future health,” says Þórhildur Ólafsdóttir, Doctoral Student of economics on a study that forms part of her doctoral thesis.
Ólafsdóttir points out that recent research shows that general physical health improves in many ways during economic downturns. “Changes in health related behaviour, for example reduction in consumption of alcohol and tobacco may be one of the underlying factors in that context,” says Ólafsdóttir. She got the opportunity to investigate this connection in Iceland by using data from the postal survey the Health and Wellbeing of Icelanders that was carried out pre- and post crash in 2007 and 2009.
“The conclusions of the study show that lower real income and fewer work hours only partially explain the reduction in alcohol consumption apparent between 2007 and 2009. This effect is larger for women than men; women are more sensitive to changes in income and work hours than men in this context. The reduction in smokers does not seem to be connected to changes in the work market; rather factors such as higher prices due the fall of the Krona in the aftermath of the crash seem to be more important,” Ólafsdóttir points out. It is fair to conclude that in the aftermath of the crash people have changed their alcohol and tobacco consumption due to higher prices rather than because they had more time than before to think about their health.
The study is in the field of health economics and according to Ólafsdóttir it increases knowledge in the field concerning the interaction of the economic environment and health. “The practical application of the study lies in understanding better which different factors in a changed economic environment most impact the health related behaviour being examined here: smoking and alcohol consumption,” Ólafsdóttir concludes.
Supervisor: Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economics.
