The theme of this year’s World Health Day (April 7) was depression. According to the UN, more than 300 million people are now living with depression, and it is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide, says the World Health Organization.

Lord Richard Layard writing on The economics of mental health says “Because mental illness is especially a disease of working age, it causes not only massive suffering but also great economic waste…If mentally ill people worked at the same rate as the rest of the population, total employment would be more than 4% higher, boosting production and tax revenues.”

In his article on the health effects of job insecurity, Francis Green says, “…economic deterioration may be less important than the psychological loss of identity and meaning attached to jobs. Studies of unemployment have found that its impact on health is much greater than can be explained simply by the loss of income resulting from unemployment.”

For more insight into health and well-being, read:

• The economics of mental health by Richard Layard
• Health effects of job insecurity by Francis Green
• The relationship between recessions and health by Nick Drydakis

• Climate change, natural disasters, and migration by Linguère Mously Mbaye
• Does home ownership affect education outcomes? by Stephen Whelan
• Is teaching certification an effective tool for developing countries? by Todd Pugatch
• Microfinance and rural non-farm employment in developing countries by Shyamal Chowdhury

Visit the IZA World of Labor site for more concise, informative, evidence-based articles across the spectrum of labor economics.

• Leeds Festival of Economics, Democracy and the Workplace, May 5. Organized by the WPART project and Leeds University Business School, the Festival will bring together leading academic scholars, researchers, practitioners, and members of the general public interested in different forms of workplace democracy.
• Society of Labor Economists Twenty-Second Annual Conference, May 5-6. The annual conference will this year be held in Raleigh, North Carolina. Deadline for early registration is April 15.
• ILO: International Conference on Jobs and Skills Mismatch, May 11-12. This conference, held in Geneva, aims to deepen understanding of the labor market effects of various types of skill mismatch and how they can be best measured in different country contexts. It will include ILO research and also present the work of other partner international organizations.
• Joint briq/IZA Workshop on Recent Developments in the Economics of Socio-emotional Skills, May 18-19. The aim of the workshop is to bring together a number of junior and senior researchers to discuss their recent empirical research related to the economics of socio-emotional skills. 
• Second World Congress of Comparative Economics, June 15-17. The Congress, held at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in St Petersburg, will include plenary sessions, workshops, as well as the editors’ panel and special events. There will also be a small exhibition area which will give participants the opportunity to meet with vendors who specialize in providing e-resources.
• IZA Labor Statistics Workshop on the Changing Structure of Work, June 29-30. The aim of the 2017 workshop of IZA’s "Labor Statistics" program area is to bring together senior and junior researchers to discuss their recent empirical research related to changes in the structure of work. 
• Call for abstracts: Work and Pensions Labour Economics study group, July 27-28. The annual WPEG conference will take place at the University of Sheffield. The Programme Committee invites submissions of abstracts from academic, government, and business economists in any field of labor economics and related research areas which are aligned with DWP strategic objectives. Abstract submission deadline: April 28.
• Call for papers: 5th IZA Workshop on Environment and Labor Markets, August 31-September 1. The aim of the 2017 workshop of the program area is to bring together researchers analyzing wider labor market impacts of environmental quality and environmental policies. Submission deadline: May 28.
• Call for papers: AIEL XXXII National Conference of Labour Economics, September 14-15. We are pleased to invite you to attend the 32nd annual Conference of the Italian Association of Labour Economists to be hosted by the Department of Economics, Statistics and Finance “Giovanni Anania” at the University of Calabria in the Arcavacata Campus in Rende (Cosenza), on September 14-15, 2017. Submission deadline: June 15.
• Call for papers: 2nd IZA Workshop: The Economics of Education, September 25-27. The aim of the workshop is to gather 30 researchers working on the economics of education, in particular on the theme "Making schools work better". Submission deadline: May 31. 
• Call for papers: IZA/Volkswagen Foundation Workshop: Preferences, personality traits and the labor market, October 6-7. We are very pleased to announce the IZA/Volkswagen Foundation Workshop on the impact of preferences and personality traits on the labor market in post-transition, emerging and developing economies. Submission deadline: July 1.
• Call for papers: IZA Workshop: Labor and Development, October 9-10. The Program on Labor and Development is concerned with the functioning of labor markets in developing countries, with a particular focus on employment and earnings both in wage employment and in self-employment. Submission deadline: May 28.