Effects of Unemployment on Mental Health in the Contemporary Family

Abstract

This article summarizes research conducted in the past 20 years concerning mental health effects of involuntary job loss. The majority of studies and previous reviews focus on unemployment effects on men. Although these studies are also reviewed, this article highlights studies of (a) the involuntarily unemployed woman, (b) the spouse of the unemployed person, and (c) their children. Within each of these research areas, the authors consider studies grouped according to their methodological strength for drawing causal inferences about the impact of job loss on psychological status, ranging from cross-sectional to longitudinal to prospective studies. The implications of the unemployment literature not only for future research but also for clinical practice are addressed. Knowledge of family effects of this stressful life circumstance is critical to developing effective treatment plans for patients who, although perhaps not the direct victims of job loss themselves, may nevertheless present with problems indirectly caused or exacerbated by unemployment within the family.

Employment Commitment and Psychological Well-being among Unemployed Men and Women

“…However, there are also studies indicating that unemployment nowadays affects men and women in similar ways (Dew et al 1991;Ensminger & Celentano 1990;Leana & Feldman 1991;Leeflang et al 1992;McGhee & Fryer 1989;Nordenmark 1995;Warr et al 1988). Chen et al (1994) and Underlind and Thuen (1991) demonstrate that unemployed women experience higher degrees of depression and anxiety than men do.…”

Does financial strain explain the association between children's morbidity and parental non-employment?

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Non-employment is not equally distributed among social classes, different family types, or groups of immigrant status or race. 13 14 Nevertheless, non-employment adversely affects children's health in all groups.…”

“…6 13 15 Some agreement exists, however, that the consequences of parental non-employment on children's health and wellbeing could be mediated primarily through financial strain on the family and probably depression and stress experienced by the parents. 6 13 16-18 The experience of non-employment is likely to be multifaceted and involve different processes, moderating influences, and outcomes. An attempt should at least be made to separate the effects of financial strain from the other effects of non-employment.…”

Associations Between Short- and Long-Term Unemployment and Frequent Mental Distress Among a National Sample of Men and Women

“…R elationships between unemployment or job loss and health have been described, [1][2][3] and unemployment has consistently been associated with adverse health outcomes, including allcause mortality, 4,5 suicide, 5 and mortality from heart disease, 4,5 although some have reported null or modest associations. 6 Associations between unemployment and psychologic well-being have also been described, [7][8][9][10] with most studies reporting poorer psychologic well-being among unemployed compared with employed persons.…”