Working Paper: NBER ID: w30840
Authors: Tyler Giles; Daniel M. Hungerman; Tamar Oostrom
Abstract: In recent decades, death rates from poisonings, suicides, and alcoholic liver disease have dramatically increased in the United States. We show that these "deaths of despair" began to increase relative to trend in the early 1990s, that this increase was preceded by a decline in religious participation, and that both trends were driven by middle-aged white Americans. Using repeals of blue laws as a shock to religiosity, we confirm that religious practice has significant effects on these mortality rates. Our findings show that social factors such as organized religion can play an important role in understanding deaths of despair.
Keywords: deaths of despair; religious participation; blue laws; middle-aged white Americans
JEL Codes: I18; J11; Z12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| decline in religious participation (Z12) | increase in deaths of despair (I12) |
| repeal of blue laws (K29) | decrease in religious attendance (Z12) |
| decrease in religious attendance (Z12) | increase in deaths of despair (I12) |
| states experiencing larger declines in religious participation (Z12) | more substantial increases in mortality rates due to deaths of despair (I12) |