Health on the Home Front: Infant Deaths and Industrial Accidents during Mobilization for World War II
-
Price V. Fishback
and
Taylor Jaworski
Abstract
The view that the US economy and living standards benefited from mobilization for World War II is commonplace. The main source of evidence is aggregate comparisons of standard macroeconomic variables over the Great Depression and war years. In this paper, we use newly collected data on infant health and industrial accidents to document changes in health conditions during World War II. The findings suggest that infant health and work conditions deteriorated in the early 1940s. Opening or expanding a plant for war production is associated with 7 additional infant deaths (per 1,000 live births) in 1942 and incidence of industrial accidents increased by 16 percent. The war years interrupted the long-run trend toward improved health along a number of dimensions, however, recovery to pre-war levels occurred quickly after 1945.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Abhandlungen und Studien
- Historical Economics of Wars in the 20th Century
- Health on the Home Front: Infant Deaths and Industrial Accidents during Mobilization for World War II
- Productivity Change and Mine Dynamics: The Coal Industry in Japan during World War II
- Democracy at a Disadvantage? British Rearmament, the Shadow Factory Scheme and the Coming of War, 1936-40
- Swiss Trade with the Allies and the Axis Powers during the Second World War
- The Enemy on the Farm: The Economic Contribution of German and Italian POW Employment in Britain and the British Dominions during and after the Second World War
- The Wartime Origins of the Wirtschaftswunder: The Growth of West German Industry, 1938-55
- How did the Capital Market Evaluate Germany’s Prospects for Winning World War I? Evidence from the Amsterdam Market for Government Bonds
- II. Dokumentation
- An Input-Output Table for Germany in 1936: A Documentation of Results, Sources and Research Strategy
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelei
- Abhandlungen und Studien
- Historical Economics of Wars in the 20th Century
- Health on the Home Front: Infant Deaths and Industrial Accidents during Mobilization for World War II
- Productivity Change and Mine Dynamics: The Coal Industry in Japan during World War II
- Democracy at a Disadvantage? British Rearmament, the Shadow Factory Scheme and the Coming of War, 1936-40
- Swiss Trade with the Allies and the Axis Powers during the Second World War
- The Enemy on the Farm: The Economic Contribution of German and Italian POW Employment in Britain and the British Dominions during and after the Second World War
- The Wartime Origins of the Wirtschaftswunder: The Growth of West German Industry, 1938-55
- How did the Capital Market Evaluate Germany’s Prospects for Winning World War I? Evidence from the Amsterdam Market for Government Bonds
- II. Dokumentation
- An Input-Output Table for Germany in 1936: A Documentation of Results, Sources and Research Strategy
