Health Events in the Household - Families and Social Insurance

Torben Heien Nielsen, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, UCPH.

Abstract: Severe health events and subsequent deaths are among the most devastating shocks households face and a major source of financial risk. Understanding responses to health shocks are key inputs in the optimal design of efficient and equitable social insurance programs. More generally, the way families respond to health events are of interest as a social phenomenon, as they affect every family and represent pivotal episodes that make health particularly salient. In this EPI-talk I introduce a simple method we developed to study causal impacts of severe health events in the family. The method is applicable across domains where events happen with different timing. Furthermore, I take a health economic approach to interpret why families respond to adverse health events in the way they do.

Everyone is invited to join us for a glass of wine and epidemiological networking after the seminar.

Participation is free and open to everyone. The seminar is arranged by the Section of Epidemiology and the Graduate Program in Public Health and Epidemiology.