Coping with health shocks and the spousal role: Evidence from the Japanese household panel survey∗

Hospitalization is a serious health shock that has adverse effects on household welfare. However, the adverse effects are not uniform across households. This study performs a quantitative evaluation of within-household self-insurance among family members when household members are hospitalized for t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kazuo Ogawa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Social Sciences and Humanities Open
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125003304
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Summary:Hospitalization is a serious health shock that has adverse effects on household welfare. However, the adverse effects are not uniform across households. This study performs a quantitative evaluation of within-household self-insurance among family members when household members are hospitalized for two types of households—married and single households—using a Japanese household panel survey from 2009 to 2021. We find that a wife increases her labor supply when her husband is hospitalized and that the income loss of the household is substantially mitigated. Our evidence suggests that the added worker effect by the wife of a hospitalized husband is quantitatively important.
ISSN:2590-2911