Stronger welfare policies meant that older workers who lost their jobs during the Great Recession were more insulated from mental health issues in Europe than in the U.S.

The old cliché states, “Money doesn’t make you happy”, but is this really true? In new research, Carlos Riumallo-Herl finds that wealth had an insulating effect against depression for older workers who lost their jobs during the Great Recession in the U.S. He finds that in comparison to workers in the U.S., those in Europe with low wealth who were made unemployed at the same time did not suffer from depression. He argues that this can be explained by the greater generosity of European unemployment safety nets which mean that people did not have to draw on their own wealth whilst unemployed, and were thus more financially secure.