Does a prolonged hardship reduce life span? Examining the longevity of young men who lived through the 1930s Great Plains drought

Abstract

The Great Plains drought of 1931–1939 was a prolonged socio-ecological disaster with widespread impacts on society, economy, and health. While its immediate impacts are well documented, we know much less about the disaster’s effects on distal human outcomes. In particular, the event’s effects on later life mortality remain almost entirely unexplored. Closing this gap would contribute to our understanding of the long-term effects of place-based stress. To help fill this gap, I use a new, massive, linked mortality dataset to investigate whether young men’s exposure to drought and dust storms in 341 Great Plains counties was linked to a higher risk of death in early-old age. Contrary to expectations, results suggest exposure to drought conditions had no obvious adverse effect among men aged 65 years or older at time of death—rather, the average age at death was slightly higher than for comparable men without exposure. This effect also appears to have been stronger among Plainsmen who stayed in place until the drought ended. A discussion of potential explanations for these counterintuitive results is provided.

Dust to Feed, Dust to Grey: The Effect of In-Utero Exposure to the Dust Bowl on Old-Age Longevity

“…First, we re-evaluate the literature on the later-life health impacts of the Dust Bowl. Contrary to previous findings of Cutler et al (2007) and Atherwood (2022), we find negative, sizeable, and significant effects on longevity outcomes. Second, we contribute to the literature on in-utero and early-life exposures and laterlife health outcomes.…”

“…Cutler et al (2007) explore in-utero Dust Bowl exposure and finds no meaningful effects on adulthood height, BMI, disability, diseases, and mortality. In a similar study, Atherwood (2022) also finds no impact of childhood exposure to the Dust Bowl on old-age longevity. However, Arthi (2018) documents sizeable increases in disability rates for adults with childhood exposure to the Dust Bowl.…”

“…A more precise framework is to look at sub-state exposures to obtain a more accurate measure and account for within-state variations. Atherwood (2022) explores county exposures to the Dust Bowl and later-life longevity. He employs Death Master Files (DMF) data and a subsample of Great Plain counties to compare the longevity outcomes of those who resided during their childhood in high versus low erosion counties.…”

The Early Bird Catches the Worm: The Effect of Birth Order on Old‐Age Mortality

“…Studies provide suggestive evidence of a link between local economic conditions around birth and childhood and old-age mortality (Van Den Berg et al 2006Berg et al , 2011Scholte, Van Den Berg, and Lindeboom 2015;. The economic exposures during the 1930s have also been examined in the case of the Dust Bowl and the resulting agricultural failure (Cutler, Miller, and Norton 2007;Arthi 2018;Atherwood 2022). There is also evidence that the New Deal programs during the 1930s had an influence on later-life health and mortality (Modrek et al 2022;Noghanibehambari and Engelman 2022).…”

“…2022). The economic exposures during the 1930s have also been examined in the case of the Dust Bowl and the resulting agricultural failure (Cutler, Miller, and Norton 2007; Noghanibehambari and Fletcher 2022; Arthi 2018; Atherwood 2022). There is also evidence that the New Deal programs during the 1930s had an influence on later‐life health and mortality (Modrek et al.…”