The effect of broadband Internet on the gender gap in mental health: Evidence from Germany.

Mental health disorders are among the leading causes of disease burden worldwide. Recently, attention has been drawn to the Internet and social media as determinants of the increase in mental health conditions in recent years. In this paper, I analyze the causal effect of broadband Internet access on the mental health of adults. I leverage confidential information on the coordinates of respondents to the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and exploit technological features of the German telecommunication network to instrument for broadband Internet access. The results are suggestive that broadband Internet leads to worse mental health for women (primarily those aged 17-30) but not for men, thus widening the gender gap in mental disorders. Looking at sub-facets of mental health, broadband access leads to a worsening of socializing behavior and ability to cope with emotional problems. The fact that the results are concentrated among the younger cohorts of women is suggestive that high Internet usage intensity amplifies the negative effect of broadband internet access on mental health.

An integrative approach for the analysis of risk and health across the life course: challenges, innovations, and opportunities for life course research.

Life course epidemiology seeks to understand the intricate relationships between risk factors and health outcomes across different stages of life to inform prevention and intervention strategies to optimize health throughout the lifespan. However, extant evidence has predominantly been based on separate analyses of data from individual birth cohorts or panel studies, which may not be sufficient to unravel the complex interplay of risk and health across different contexts. We highlight the importance of a multi-study perspective that enables researchers to: (a) Compare and contrast findings from different contexts and populations, which can help identify generalizable patterns and context-specific factors; (b) Examine the robustness of associations and the potential for effect modification by factors such as age, sex, and socioeconomic status; and (c) Improve statistical power and precision by pooling data from multiple studies, thereby allowing for the investigation of rare exposures and outcomes. This integrative framework combines the advantages of multi-study data with a life course perspective to guide research in understanding life course risk and resilience on adult health outcomes by: (a) Encouraging the use of harmonized measures across studies to facilitate comparisons and synthesis of findings; (b) Promoting the adoption of advanced analytical techniques that can accommodate the complexities of multi-study, longitudinal data; and (c) Fostering collaboration between researchers, data repositories, and funding agencies to support the integration of longitudinal data from diverse sources. An integrative approach can help inform the development of individualized risk scores and personalized interventions to promote health and well-being at various life stages.

Furloughing.

Over nine million jobs were furloughed in the United Kingdom during the coronavirus pandemic. Using real-time survey evidence from the UK in April and May 2020, we document which workers were most likely to be furloughed and we analyse variation in the terms on which they furloughed. We find that women were significantly more likely to be furloughed. Inequality in care responsibilities seems to have played a key role: mothers were 10 percentage points more likely than fathers to initiate the decision to be furloughed (as opposed to it being fully or mostly the employer's decision) but we find no such gender gap amongst childless workers. The prohibition of working whilst furloughed was routinely ignored, especially by men who can do a large percentage of their work tasks from home. Women were less likely to have their salary topped up beyond the 80 per cent subsidy paid for by the government. Considering the future, furloughed workers without employer-provided sick pay have a lower willingness to pay to return to work, as do those in sales and food preparation occupations. Compared with non-furloughed employees, furloughed workers are more pessimistic about keeping their job in the short to medium run and are more likely to be actively searching for a new job, even when controlling for detailed job characteristics. These results have important implications for the design of short-time work schemes and the strategy for effectively reopening the economy.