Tosafos in Taanis asks how Yocheved could have been born while Jacob and his clan were moving from Israel to Egypt if it was a time of famine (assuming that she was conceived during the famine) as per the Midrash that states Yocheved was born at that time? Tosafos answer that this rule was only a stringency kept by super righteous people like Joseph.
Shulchan Aruch (O.C 240 & 574) paskens that one should refrain from engaging in marital relations during a famine, as such it is not merely a midas chassidus. The Rema adds that “this applies to OTHER TROUBLES which are comparable to a famine” (240, 12).
A famine need not be “globally” as was suggested, however, a recession is not comparable to a famine.