An Internet-based survey was administered in Japan to compare mental health of and stigma toward unemployed individuals, workers with regular employment, and workers with irregular employment. Unemployed individuals showed higher scores for both anxiety/depression and disturbance of activities, as well as faced more stigma than did employed individuals. In addition, the factor structure of stigma that unemployed individuals have toward the unemployed was the same as that previously found for university students and employed individuals. Financial strain and stigma were the factors with the greatest influence on the mental health of unemployed individuals.

This study investigated the images that people have of the unemployed. In Study 1, general images of the unemployed were ascertained through qualitative and quantitative research. Various images, both positive and negative, were found for the unemployed in general. In Study 2, a scale to measure the level of stigma associated with the unemployed was created based on the images from Study 1. The results yielded four subscales for stigma associated with the unemployed. University students seemed to show more stigma for the unemployed on some sub-scales than typical adults did. Working experiences, such as an internship or a parttime job during student life, would promote the reduction of the stigma associated with the unemployed.

No abstract