Background: The economic slowdown affects the population's health. Based on a social gradient concept, we usually assume that this detrimental impact results from a lower social status, joblessness, or other related factors. Although many researchers dealt with the relationship between economy and health, the findings are still inconsistent, primarily related to unemployment. This study reinvestigates a relationship between the economy's condition and health by decomposing it into macroeconomic indicators. Methods: We use data for 21 European countries to estimate the panel models, covering the years 1995–2019. Dependent variables describe population health (objective measures – life expectancy for a newborn and 65 years old, healthy life expectancy, separately for male and female). The explanatory variables primarily represent GDP and other variables describing the public finance and health sectors. Results: (1) the level of economic activity affects the population’s health – GDP stimulates the life expectancies positively; this finding is strongly statistically significant; (2) the unemployment rate also positively affects health; hence, increasing the unemployment rate is linked to better health – this effect is relatively short-term. Conclusions: Social benefits or budgetary imbalance may play a protective role during an economic downturn.

Unconditional basic income (UBI) is one of the instruments directly impacting its beneficiaries and their situation in the labor market. The most critical aspects of UBI's impact on the labor market include labor supply and demand, the bargaining power of employees and the situation of employers, and the recognition of socially beneficial work as equivalent to gainful employment. The study aims to analyze the declared impact of the unconditional basic income on the professional situation of one of the groups of its beneficiaries - women whose bargaining power as employees is weakened and who perform socially beneficial housework. The study included in -depth interviews with four women who were on maternity leave. The results showed that UBI influences the position of the employee in the labor market, weakens employers and positively affects employees. The key issue for the respondents is the UBI amount, because a relatively small amount would be treated as additional income. UBI could strengthen the position of mothers with young children, provide greater psychological comfort and enable more effective forms of work, such as remote or part-time work.