Abstract:
Purpose – A large extant literature examines the association between unemployment and self-rated health. Most
of these studies reveal that unemployment diminishes self-rated health. Another strand of this literature, albeit
sparse, suggests that the relationship between unemployment and self-rated health is gendered. The purpose of
this paper is twofold: first, to examine whether unemployment is correlated with self-rated health in Ghana; and
second, to explore whether and to what extent men differ from women on the basis of this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors used data from the Wave 6 of World Values Survey in
Ghana (n¼1552) and probit and instrumental variable probit regressions to empirically examine the
association between unemployment and self-rated health in Ghana.
Findings – The results confirm that unemployment is negatively correlated with self-rated health among
Ghanaians. Specifically, the unemployed are about 6.84–7.20 percent less likely to report good health status in
a pooled sample. Further, after correcting for endogeneity, unemployed men are about 26.68 percent less
likely to report good health. However, the association is not statistically significant for unemployed women.
Originality/value – The study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence from Ghana.
