Research Q&A: The effect of recessions on health workers
A new study by Institute of Population Health Sciences researchers, published in the journal Health Policy and Planning, has looked at the impact of economic crises on health workers. In this Q&A with the lead author of the study, Giuliano Russo suggests that austerity measures need to be avoided at all costs to prevent harm to health workers.
What is new about the study?
This is the first systematic review systematising the available evidence on how health workers may be affected by economic crises.
Is there anything surprising about the results?
Counterintuitively, economic recessions don’t always bring unemployment to health sector workers like other sectors – in fact, job opportunities for doctors and nurses seem to increase. The policy response and austerity measures appear to have a more profound effect on health labour markets.
Why is the study important?
As economies worldwide are feeling the pinch from the COVID-19 epidemic, it is key to understand how such effects will reverberate to health workers and health systems. This study is also the first attempt to elaborate a conceptual framework of effects and reactions to economic crises, which may be used by future empirical studies on the subject.
What are the wider implications?
During economic crises, governments need to be careful not to harm health workers by choosing the wrong policy response. Austerity measures need to be avoided at all costs, and incentives offered to health labour markets to respond to the increased demand for care during a downturn.
More information
- Research paper: Russo, Giuliano, Tiago Jesus Silva, Zakariah Gassasse, Jonathan Filippon, Arianna Rotulo, and Elias Kondilis. ‘The Impact of Economic Recessions on Health Workers: A Systematic Review and Best-Fit Framework Synthesis of the Evidence from the Last 50 Years’. Health Policy and Planning, no. czaa180 (4 January 2021).