Latin American migrants in Spain: Assessing impact of economic expansion and recession on head of household status

There tends to be an increase in male migration into Spain during times of economic expansion, and during recessions, there is a rise in women as head of households. A study co-authored by Xiana Bueno, PhD, a sociologist and the Marie Skłodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University, closely examines the nature of these demographic characteristics.

Economic downturns negatively impact future cognitive functioning of older U.S. workers

A study published in The Journals of Gerontology Series B by recent Harvard Bell Fellow Philipp Hessel, Pop Center Director Lisa Berkman, and faculty member Mauricio Avendano has found exposure to economic downturns among U.S. workers approaching retirement age to be associated with decreased cognitive functioning later in life. Longer periods of exposure to downturns were found to be associated with lower levels of functioning.

Europeans exposed to economic downturn during their 40s may face poorer health later in life

A study published in the European Journal of Public Health by Harvard Pop Center Bell Fellow Philipp Hessel, PhD, and former Bell Fellow and current faculty member Mauricio Avendano, PhD, examines the impact of economic downturns experienced during early and mid adulthood on late-life (55-80) health.

The protective effect of education for cohorts graduating in bad times

Timing is everything. A study by David Cutler confirms that graduates who enter the labor market during bad economic times experience lower income, lower life satisfaction, greater obesity, more smoking and drinking later in life. The study also noted that education plays a protective role for these outcomes, as educated individuals, even when entering the market at times of high unemployment, have a much lower incidence of these outcomes than their…