December 27, 2022
KIDS LIKE FAMILY TIME:
In-Person Schooling and Youth Suicide: Evidence from School Calendars and Pandemic School Closures (Benjamin Hansen, Joseph J. Sabia & Jessamyn Schaller, December 2022, WORKING PAPER 30795)
This study explores the effect of in-person schooling on youth suicide. We document three key findings. First, using data from the National Vital Statistics System from 1990-2019, we document the historical association between teen suicides and the school calendar. We show that suicides among 12-to-18-year-olds are highest during months of the school year and lowest during summer months (June through August) and also establish that areas with schools starting in early August experience increases in teen suicides in August, while areas with schools starting in September don't see youth suicides rise until September. Second, we show that this seasonal pattern dramatically changed in 2020. Teen suicides plummeted in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S. and remained low throughout the summer before rising in Fall 2020 when many K-12 schools returned to in-person instruction.
Posted by Orrin Judd at December 27, 2022 12:00 AM