Downward Mobility, Unemployment and Mortality

Sunnee Billingsley, Stockholm University

Downward mobility and unemployment are assessed in this study as contributors to increased risk of death from 1994-2005 in Russia. This research offers fresh evidence on the contribution of social mobility to health differentials. I propose that downward mobility itself may have an immediate impact on health, above and beyond selection, origin or destination effects. Using RLMS data and Cox proportional hazard models, the results demonstrate that men were at greater risk of mortality when they experienced downward mobility, relative to men who did not. Women’s mortality did not appear to be linked to downward mobility. Both men’s and women’s risk of death substantially increased when experiencing unemployment, relative to low-mid grade workers and relative to non-participation in the labor market. Whereas the impact of downward mobility appears immediate and short-term, the impact of unemployment was longer term and not limited to the year in which unemployment occurred for men.