Is marriage protecting your health in recession times?

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on the protective effects of marriage on individuals’ health by examining whether this advantage is still valid in recession times. A two stage empirical strategy is followed based on individual-level cross-section data for Spain. Using propensity score matching techniques we firstly estimate the causal impact of divorce and legal separation (marital dissolution) on mental health and binge drinking in two different points in time: before and during the economic crisis. Secondly, we examine whether there exists an incremental or detrimental effect on these health outcomes implied by the economic recession using difference-in-difference (DiD) regression methods, upon conditioning on a proxy of innate health status. The results confirm that divorce and separation cause a large and significant deterioration of mental health and a raise in heavy drinking both before the economic recession and after (during) the crisis.