The Effect of Unemployment on Health in Turkey: An Empirical Analysis

Year 2020, , 117 - 144, 28.12.2020

Eyyup Ecevit Zeynep Öztürk Yaprak , Murat Çetin

https://doi.org/10.33399/biibfad.749623

Cited By: 3

Abstract

Although the unfavorable effects of unemployment on health are known, their dimensions cannot be fully revealed by researchers. The main problem may be due to the healthy labor supply and the social factors being effective in the interaction between unemployment and health. Social class, poverty, age, income level and housing differences can be listed as social factors. While social factors indirectly affect the relationship between unemployment and health, unemployment and health affect each other directly. While some health problems (depression, anxiety, suicide, deaths due to lung cancer, malnutrition, lack of access to health services) are inevitable for those who lose their jobs, unhealthy workforce is likely to have negative effects on economic growth. In this study, unemployment and health data were used in the period of 1988-2018 for Turkey and time series analysis was done. Health is proxied by life expectancy, financial development is proxied by the share of domestic loans in GDP, inflation is proxied by CPI, economic growth is proxied by GDP and unemployment is proxied by the share of total labor force. According to the results obtained from the study, one-way causality relationship was determined from unemployment, financial development and inflation to life expectancy in the long term. In addition, mutual causality was observed between economic growth and health in the long term. In the short term, there are one-way causations from economic growth to health and from health to financial development. These results prove that long-term unemployment is an important cause of health. Therefore, policy makers are advised to support unemployed people in terms of economic, social and health, in addition to reducing unemployment.

Keywords

Doğuşta yaşam beklentisi, işsizlik, sağlık, ARDL sınır testi, nedensellik

Türkiye’de İşsizliğin Sağlık Üzerindeki Etkisi: Ampirik Bir Analiz

Abstract

İşsizliğin sağlık üzerindeki olumsuz etkileri bilinmesine rağmen bunların boyutları araştırmacılar tarafından tam olarak ortaya konulamamaktadır. Temel sorun, sağlıklı işgücü arzı ve işsizlik ile sağlık arasındaki karşılıklı etkileşimde sosyal faktörlerin etkili olmasından kaynaklanıyor olabilir. Sosyal sınıf, yoksulluk, yaş, gelir düzeyi ve konut farklılıkları sosyal faktörler olarak sıralanabilir. Sosyal faktörler, işsizlik ve sağlık arasındaki ilişkiyi dolaylı olarak etkilerken işsizlik ve sağlık karşılıklı olarak birbirlerini doğrudan etkilemektedirler. İşlerini kaybedenlerin bir takım sağlık sorunlarının ortaya çıkması (depresyon, kaygı, intihar, akciğer kanserine bağlı ölümler, yetersiz beslenme, sağlık hizmetlerine erişememe) kaçınılmaz iken sağlıksız işgücünün de ekonomik büyüme üzerinde olumsuz etkilerinin olması muhtemeldir. Bu çalışmada, Türkiye için 1988-2018 dönemine ait işsizlik ve sağlık verilerinden yararlanılmıştır ve zaman serisi analizi yapılmıştır. Sağlığı temsilen doğuşta yaşam beklentisi, finansal gelişmeyi temsilen yurt içi kredilerin GSYİH içindeki payı, enflasyonu temsilen TÜFE ve ekonomik büyümeyi temsilen GSYİH ve işsizliği temsilen toplam işgücü içerisindeki işsizlik oranı alınmıştır. Çalışmadan elde edilen sonuçlar şöyledir: uzun dönemde işsizlik, finansal gelişme ve enflasyondan doğuşta yaşam beklentisine tek yönlü nedensellik ilişkisi tespit edilmiştir. Ayrıca uzun dönemde ekonomik büyüme ile sağlık arasında karşılıklı nedenselliğe rastlanmıştır. Kısa dönemde ise ekonomik büyümeden sağlığa ve sağlıktan finansal gelişmeye doğru tek yönlü nedensellikler söz konusudur. Bu sonuçlar uzun dönemde işsizliğin sağlığın önemli bir nedeni olduğunu kanıtlar niteliktedir. Buradan hareketle politika yapıcılara işsizliğin azaltılmasına ek olarak işsiz kalanların ekonomik, sosyal ve sağlık bakımından desteklenmesi tavsiye edilmektedir.

Keywords

Doğuşta Yaşam Beklentisi, işsizlik, sağlık, ARDL Sınır Testi, nedensellik

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